Chapter 5—Hank

Greenmoss was just a few kilometers outside of Meridian City and a wave of nostalgia hit me whenever I made the trip back home. I had lived here all my life; this quiet, suburban town but I knew that I couldn’t remain here forever.

My dad wanted me to be an art teacher for the high school, but thank God for my mom; she was horrified that he would even think that.

“We didn’t send her off to college and pay all that money for her to become an art teacher.” Then they bickered on and on while I munched on a cookie and watched TV.

The relief was palpable when I got a job at Sterling Group right after college. I did not see myself spending one more year in my parents’ house.

Don’t get me wrong, I love them both to pieces and I would do anything for them, but they can be suffocating sometimes.

The bus slowed down at my stop and I stood to my feet with my duffel bag and walked towards the double doors as they hissed open.

The road had been paved clean.

“Sierra!”

I stepped down from the bus and spotted my parents waving at me, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Dad!” I waved and half ran towards them. It was like I was a schoolgirl again, returning from a long day of being a nobody at school.

They covered me in a three-man hug and I didn’t care how awkward we looked.

“My baby girl” Dad beamed down at me, his eyes glinting. “ I haven’t seen you in a while.”

I had missed Thanksgiving because of that job Gina dumped on me. I was trying to impress her.

“She has outgrown us now.” Mom said and I shook my head and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“You know that’s not true. I’ve been swamped with work…are these for me?”

“Yep.” My dad handed me the flowers with one hand and took my duffel bag with his other hand.

“Did I tell you Hank is here?”

We walked over to their Toyota Camry. “Yes mom, you mentioned.”

Hank was her friend’s son, I can’t remember which one of her friends. She joined this book club where they spent half of their time drinking wine and the other half to matchmake their single kids. It was either that or gossiping about their married kids.

“He’s so handsome, tell her Tony.”

“I don’t like him.”

I laughed at my dad’s comment. He didn’t like any men as soon as they were interested in me.

“Tony, stop it. Come on, tell her!” My mom turned to look at me so earnestly I had to look serious. “Patricia said he works in oil and gas…” she pursed her lips to contain her excitement. “That means he’s loaded, Sierra.”

“Seriously, mom?”

“You will be catching flights to those exotic countries. And he’s so handsome too.”

I opened the door and slid inside. There was only one man in my mind right now…he had dominated my thoughts since the night he fucked me senseless in the back of his car. I couldn’t get him out of my head.

Crazy that I didn’t even know his name. All that I could think of was the way he held me…the way he talked me into everything, his voice soft and hard at the same time, urging me to let go.

“Are you alright, Sweetie?”

My cheeks burned red when I looked up and saw my dad watching me from the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” I smiled up at him.

He nodded, satisfied, and eased the car back onto the road.

My mystery man was making a mess of me, I needed a distraction. I rested my elbow against the window and looked at the moving scenery.

Greenmoss hadn’t changed much.

Tree-lined streets stretched in neat rows, their canopies covered in snow. Brick houses sat behind white picket fences, each with flower beds that looked as though they had been entered into a gardening competition. There was a time Mom tried to make our flowerbeds look like that but she gave up after a month.

Mrs. Peterson’s bakery still occupied the corner of Maple Street, and judging by the small queue outside, her cinnamon rolls were still as delicious as ever.

Home.

I smiled despite myself.

“I need to stop at Yoda,” Mom suddenly announced.

“What for?”

“I need to buy pasta.”

“We have three packs at home.” Dad said.

“I know.”

“So… why are we buying more?”

“Because I want to.”

Dad sighed dramatically. “Amanda, we’ve barely picked Sierra up.”

“It’ll only take five minutes.”

He shot me a helpless glance in the rearview mirror. “See what I live with?” I laughed.

“Just drive, Tony.”

With the long-suffering patience of a man who had clearly lost this argument many times before, Dad flicked on the indicator and took the next turn toward Yoda Mart.

Five minutes later, we were parked in the lot.

“I’ll wait in the car,” Dad announced almost immediately.

“Of course you will,” Mom muttered. She turned in her seat to me. “Come with me.”

“For pasta?”

“For pasta.”

There was something oddly enthusiastic about the way she said it and I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’ve been acting weird ever since you picked me up.”

“What? Can’t a mother buy groceries with her daughter?”

“I don’t know…”

She opened the door and I sighed, then followed behind. We got in and stopped in front of shelves stacked floor to ceiling with different brands of pasta.

“There.” She pointed toward the top shelf.

“Can you grab that one for me?”

I walked to the shelves, wondering why of all the brands, she wanted the one at the top of the shelf, knowing fully well I was as short as she was. I stretched onto my toes and my fingertips barely grazed the packet.

Just as I was about to try again, another hand reached past me from behind and plucked the packet from the shelf.

“Here you go.”

I turned around, surprised by the man who’d helped me. He was tall with broad shoulders and bright eyes.

“Thank you,” I said, accepting the packet.

“My pleasure.”

His gaze lingered on me for just a moment before he smiled again. “You know, you’re beautiful.”

I blinked. Straight to the point. “I… thank you.”

“I’m Hank.”

Of course you are.

His grin widened as though he’d read my thoughts.

“I’m guessing…” He nodded toward the end of the aisle. “…that’s your mother.”

I followed his gaze. Mom was standing a few feet away with another woman. The two of them were laughing far louder than whatever conversation they were supposedly having deserved.

Every few seconds, Mom’s eyes drifted in our direction before she quickly looked away again.

Subtle wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “They’re like two hens performing in the world’s worst play.”

Hank chuckled.

“My mom insisted we stop by for groceries.”

“So did mine.”

We exchanged a knowing look. “I guess we’ve both been set up.”

“I think so.”

His gaze never left me. “I’d hate for all their hard work to go to waste, though.” He smiled. “Would it be alright if I got your number?”

I considered him for a second. He seemed… nice. And if saying no meant listening to my mother complain for the rest of the weekend, I wasn’t sure I had the energy.

“Sure.”

We exchanged numbers just as Mom appeared beside us, wearing the most innocent expression I’d ever seen.

He nodded at her politely and left while mom dropped the pasta back on the shelf. “We have enough of that at home.”

“Wow, mom.”

“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

I don’t know; he was okay I guess. There was only one man on my mind, though. I still couldn’t walk properly because of him.