39. Before It’s Too Late

THIRTY-NINE

BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

The Cello Song, The Piano Guys

Santiago

For the first time since I met her, Roe didn’t want to go running this morning. She’s stayed in before, but today she openly chose not to. She said she wanted to read her books and take it slow. We leave Baker tomorrow morning to go to the last race and I think she’s finally letting her body rest the way it should before a big event.

I ran out to grab some breakfast, with an uneasy feeling that I haven’t been able to shake since last night. For some reason the whole situation with Roe’s house feels odd. It’s not only the fact that it escalated so quickly from moving things around to then destroying things, but taking trophies also feels so strange.

I walk into Ronnie’s and run into Jake who’s also grabbing food. He’s having a conversation with some dude and if I didn’t know Jake, I would think he’s an asshole. His tone is spiteful and although he’s not yelling, anyone who gets close enough can hear the conversation.

“Why can’t you just be honest with her?” he asks.

“I don’t owe her anything, Jake. We broke up months ago,” the other guy says.

“You’ve been with her all your life, Cole. The on-and-off thing has always fucked with her and you know it. But this time you went beyond that. Why did you keep her hopes up if you were just going to tell her never mind when she offered to move here? Do you even love her?”

It feels wrong to eavesdrop but there’s not much I can do. They’re sitting at the bar, and so am I.

“Of course I care about her,” Cole says.

“I didn’t ask if you cared about her, asshole. I asked if you loved her, because if you did, you wouldn’t want to hurt her like this.”

Cole doesn’t reply but he sets money on the table and grabs a bag of food before standing up. “I’m done with her and with this damn town. Can’t do anything without having people talking about it. You wanna know the real reason why I told her I couldn’t date her, Jake? Because I’m marrying the one girl that nobody sees in the right light. And I guess you out of all people would know, considering she’s your fucking ex. We’re both out of here as soon as the school year is over. Hell, we might not even make it to that.” He gets up and walks toward the door before turning around and saying, “I’m done with everyone here.”

“What can I get you, hon’?” Miss Jane asks me, breaking my eavesdropping. When it’s not one of the Thompson’s here, Miss Jane takes care of the restaurant. I don’t know her well but all the locals love her and treat her like their own grandma. Ronnie’s is my favorite place here in Baker because of the ‘at home’ feeling, and I’m not the only one who embraces that.

“Can I have two Baker’s to go, one with scrambled eggs and one with two benedicts?” I ask without having to look at the menu.

“Coffee while you wait?” she asks. I nod, and before I can open my mouth she says, “With milk, not cream.” She pats the counter and smiles, like a mom does to their child. We’re all Ronnie’s children after all.

I turn to Jake who looks ready to kill someone. “What was that all about?”

“You know Cara, right?” he asks.

“I do. I met her here a few months ago. She’s close with Roe.”

“Yeah, the girl is a pure ray of sunshine. She’s close with Allie too and that douchebag, who used to be my friend, is her ex.”

“Ah, Cole,” I reply. Not that I know much but I’ve heard some.

“Yeah, he’s lucky Mr. Ronald wasn’t here to witness that. We’ve been telling Cara for years to cut her ties with him. But the heart wants what the heart wants. Anyway, enough about town drama. How are you? How’s Roe after the break-in?”

“She’s Roe, you know. Tough as nails no matter what happens.”

“What about you?” he asks, paying for his food when Ms. Jane brings the bill and my coffee, just how I like it.

“Me? I’m fine. It’s just weird and has left me feeling uneasy. They started by just messing with things, but now they added a message and actually took some stuff. It’s like they’re trying to mess with her head,” I explain. I don’t know why someone would feel the need to do that. Roe doesn’t mess with people unless— Co?o . It dawns on me the one time that Roe was spiraling and bitching at me before she even knew me. The one thing that other people don’t think she deserves.

“Jake, I gotta go.” I pull money out of my wallet and slam it on the counter before rushing out of Ronnie’s and hoping I’m wrong. And if I’m right, I hope I make it back to her before it’s too late.