A Town Called Valentine(18)

Monica’s focus on her sharpened, but she only said, “Every girl in town has been after him at one time or another. There aren’t many who catch him, and when they do, it’s brief and fun and over.”

“Including you?” Emily pressed, unable to help herself.

“No way. Sadly, I got brother vibes from him the moment I was old enough to notice my own brother’s friends.”

Emily couldn’t help smiling, even as she told herself to leave. But the sun’s warmth seemed at last to be settling in her bones, and being with Monica was strangely relaxing. In San Francisco, she’d been so wrapped up in Greg that she’d never made time for girlfriends. Her college friends had been too busy being single and pursuing school, making it hard for them to understand the choice she’d made to marry. Greg didn’t have time to go out “with the girls,” and her excuses soon no longer were necessary. At the time, she thought she’d been making the right decision to let her friends go, so that they wouldn’t feel guilty when they attempted to reach out. But she’d made a terrible mistake. A woman didn’t need just a husband, she needed friends, people to rely on or to comfort in turn. And she’d foolishly taken those friendships for granted. It made her almost wistful for what she’d missed. Not that she’d be here long enough to make friends.

On the sidewalks, the tourists had multiplied in the last few hours, and she now paid attention to the couples since Monica had pointed it out. Valentine Valley had its own specialty theme just from the name.

Emily almost groaned as she turned her feet in little circles, stretching her aching ankles. “All those people in love must flock to your store to buy flowers.”

“They do,” Monica said with an exaggerated sigh, then grinned. “And I love it. Hey—have you had lunch yet?”

“No, I haven’t. Perhaps you can recommend a casual place.” A cheap place. There must be a grocery store someplace close to buy sandwich fixings.

“We’ll do lunch one of these days, I promise, but I can’t go out today. I’m manning the store alone.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” She couldn’t start doing lunch, but at least that was an excuse to get back to work. “Here I’ve kept you away.”

“Trust me, I’ve had my eye on the store the whole time. No customers at the moment. They’re probably all eating lunch. Care to join me?”

Emily opened her mouth, not wanting to be rude, but not knowing how to escape the kind offer. “Oh, but you only made enough for yourself. That would be a terrible imposition.”

“Nah, I made a big salad, and I always keep cheese sticks and almonds in the store for emergency snacks.”

“Oh, but here comes a customer,” Emily said with relief. It would be too easy to get caught up with someone as friendly as Monica.

Monica turned her head and saw the hassled-looking young man enter her store. “I’ll take care of him, then bring out lunch. The day is too beautiful to waste.”

Emily was about to object, then had a change of heart. What was the point of being rude? She had to eat, didn’t she? She forced each muscle to relax one at a time after the stress of the last few days. When Monica returned, they spread out the feast between them and began to eat.

“So why are you working alone today?” Emily asked, after pouring ranch dressing across the top of her salad. “Surely you’re busy this time of year.”

“Spring and fall aren’t usually the busy seasons up in the mountains. We get a lot of tourists during the winter and summer. They tend to avoid our muddy seasons between. Besides a teenager working after school, I usually get by with Mrs. Wilcox, my part-time help, but she’s getting old, and the poor thing has been having to call in sick more days lately.”

“That’s too bad.”

“We rely a lot on retirees for seasonal help here. And believe me, lots of people retire to Valentine Valley. It’s away from the big city of Denver, yet not in overly priced Aspen. You’d be surprised at the backgrounds of many of the locals. Not all are residents for generations like the Thalbergs, even though we are nestled in the middle of several ranches.”

Emily had heard enough about Nate and decided to keep the conversation on Monica. “So you were born here, too? What was it like growing up in such a small town?”

“Claustrophobic.”

Emily reluctantly shared her laugh.

“But you never feel alone,” Monica continued.