Five

Hudson

To say this had turned into a strange day would be the understatement of the year. I'd come back to town fully intending on talking Dad out of selling, and the more time I spent with his employee, Jack, the stronger that feeling grew. As I swept the store, I thought about all the times I'd done this when I was a kid, and later when I was a teenager. There were little nooks and crannies I remembered so well it was both amazing and strange. I thought I'd left this place behind, but the emotions that filled me were nostalgia, and love. I had so many memories of us all working together here on some weekends, and of my parents trying to make it fun.

My mind wandered back to the many different games Dad made up to keep me busy. From making a game out of all the hardware items I could find that had been dropped on the floor to giving me a quarter for every spiderweb I knocked down. I hadn't thought of any of that for years. "This place is full of ghosts," I mumbled.

"What was that?" Jack asked me from where he stood at the tool section putting everything back in order.

"I was just thinking how I still remember every floorboard in this place after all that time away."

"You must have swept the floor a lot," Jack said, and this time when he looked at me his expression was a lot less guarded and a little more friendly.

"Just a few times." I laughed again at the memories. "Pretty sure this is the same broom too."

"Oh my god, I've been telling Jonas for a couple of years we need a new one. He says—"

"If it ain't broke don't fix it," I finished for him making him laugh. "He's definitely not one to waste a perfectly good broom."

"That's the truth. Oh, and when you asked about the rafters earlier, we haven't cleaned them the whole time I've worked here. I just try not to look up," he said and shivered a little.

I took a chance and looked up. "I'm pretty sure those are the same spiderwebs that were there when I was in high school," I said and cringed.

"They're practically antiques," Jack said with a perfectly straight face.

"You're right, they are—kid," I said and kept my head down while I got back to sweeping. A wad of paper towels hit me on the back of the head, but I just swept it up and added it to the pile of debris I'd collected, making him laugh. For a while neither of us spoke as we both stayed busy and a customer or two stopped by for different odds and ends. Some I knew but most I didn't recognize.

Finally at a little before six Jack walked over to where I was busy using the broom trying to knock down some especially aggressive webs. "I think some of these spiders have been here for generations. I can't believe this is still this bad," I said and tried not to freak out about what was falling down on me from above.

"Don't worry too much about it, just sweep up the mess you made over your clean floor, and we can go get something to eat," Jack said as he closed out the drawer before walking back to the office. Dad had always kept a safe in the back and I was again hit with the familiarity of being here. I did as he suggested, after brushing off more spider webs and dust from my shirt and hair.

"This shirt was the dumbest choice," I grumbled to myself. The country wasn't as predictable as the city, you never knew where you'd run into something that would ruin a perfectly good shirt, or a nice pair of boots. Really any item of clothing was ready for ruin on a muddy road, or while visiting a relative that lived out of town in the country. It had been so long that I'd even had to consider any of that, my mind just didn't register it anymore.

"I like that shirt," Jack said as he walked by me on the way to the counter. "If you're about done sweeping, we can close up now." I looked down at my now not so white shirt and shrugged before I finished sweeping and the two of us turned off the lights before he locked the front door.

"No alarm?" I said quietly while making sure no one overheard me. There was exactly one person nearby, and they were on the opposite side of the street.

"Nope, I keep telling Jonas it's a good idea, but again, you know how he is." Jack shoved the keys in his pocket, and I walked next to him as he moved down the street to where I knew the Blue Star Diner was located. There were several new businesses that now occupied older places that had closed long ago.

"I haven't eaten here in years," I said. The closer we got the brighter the lights from inside seemed. The place was exactly as I remembered it, nothing special but a nice local diner with food that was worth coming back for. It was busy with the after-work crowd that was a mix of everyone in the area and probably a tourist or two blended in.

Jack led us up to the counter where he took one of the empty stools and slipped a menu out of the napkin holder that held them. "What sounds good?" he asked without looking up. Before I could answer, one of the Star brothers walked over and stood on the other side of the counter.

"Jack, what can I get you?" he asked without sparing a glance in my direction.

"Oh, hey, Andrew, did you get the stools fixed?" Jack asked.

"You tell me," he said and crossed his arms. Jack wiggled around on the stool before smiling at him.

"Great job, it's not wobbly at all. I'll have the patty melt," he said before looking at me. "You know Andrew Star, don't you?"

Andrew looked at me and I looked at him, but I didn't recognize him at all. "I don't think so. You were probably a little kid when I left town." He stared hard at me before shrugging.

"This is Hudson Carter," Jack said.

"Jonas's son?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, I'm just in town for a visit." It was obvious he didn't know who I was at all.

"Do you know what you want?" he asked. I placed my order, and he hurried to put it in to the kitchen. "It won't be long." He immediately picked up two steaming plates of food to deliver to one of the other tables.

"I can't remember the last time I was here. It looks different but still the same." I glanced around at the familiar space and noted the little changes. It struck me that I was no longer a member of the community, I was an outsider, and the way most of them glanced at me before looking away enforced that feeling. None of them knew me here or if they did, they didn't recognize me. A feeling of regret bubbled up in my stomach. When I left all those years ago, I never had a drop of remorse or second thoughts about getting out of here. But one afternoon in the hardware store and watching Jack interact with people left me envious of the connection he had, and how easily he interacted with everyone. Sure, he was a bit of an asshole, but they all brushed it off and were friendly to him.

I glanced around the room again and an older woman met my eyes and smiled. I had no clue who she was, but I returned her smile before turning my attention back to watching the kitchen.