Small Town Big Man

“Yeah, I like pasta.” She bends over to check out something on the lower shelf.

I keep moving, making my way up a little further to grab some tomato paste for the sauce. My head is down, reading a can, when a familiar voice crashes into my ears.

“Anderson. . .” Her voice slices through my body and I cringe slightly.

Turing around, Cara is standing behind me, dressed like she's heading to some sort of gala in a long, tight blue dress, and six inch heels. Her hair is pinned back, and her eyes have a thick shade of gold covering them.

“Cara,” I say. That's all I have to say to her, and that's all I want to say to her. I don't even know why she's bothering to speak to me right now.

“Am I really seeing this?” She takes a step back, folding her arms over her chest. “Has the recluse come out from his hideaway on the mountain?”

“Yeah, good to see you too.” My voice is short and sarcastic.

She gives me a thin smile and squints her eyes. Her lip curls up, annoyed with my tone. Cocking out her leg, she adjusts her basket on her arm.

“I didn't believe it when I heard it. I didn't believe the wild man of the mountains would ever spend more time than he had to in town.” Her eyes drop to my cart, scanning the junk food and alcohol. “Well, good to see you're staying healthy.”

I notice her basket is filled with vegetables and seltzer water. I'm not surprised. She's always been a girl who worried about her appearance, especially her weight. It’s how she judges everyone around her, and she holds herself to an unrealistic standard. As much as I can’t stand her, I still pity her for that.

“Not all of us can eat like rabbits and still somehow survive.”

Cara's fake smile falls into a heavy frown. “And—”

“Excuse me,” Laney says, cutting in between us to drop some cans of corn beef hash and beans into the cart. Standing up straight, she rests her hands on her hips and glances back and forth from Cara to me.

“Laney, this is Cara. Cara, this is Laney.”

The two women look each other up and down, lids thinning, lips going taut. I can see the realization fall over Laney's face as it registers in her head who this woman is.

“So, this is Miss Mayor, huh?” Laney takes a step back with a smile on her face, her tone dry. “What's it like being the first lady of a doghouse?”

I can't help myself. I laugh out loud. The look on Cara's face is priceless. She's been called out.

Cara's lips turn brittle as she arches a high brow. “It's fine, better than living with a caveman.” She sounds like she's trying to hit us both with a million tiny razors.

And maybe before, she could have, but not now, not anymore. I don't feel the same as I once did. I haven't seen her in a long time. I've avoided her like the plague. She's the reason I've stayed away from town. She's the reason I've spent the last few years alone. She's the reason I've hated life.

But standing here, looking at her now, I feel nothing. I can see how stupid I am for letting her have any control over me at all. Under the harsh neon lights of the store, she looks like anyone else. Certainly not worth my time. Definitely not worth losing another second of my life over.

Laney steps to my side, scooping her arm around mine and hugging it tight. “To each their own.” She shrugs a shoulder, snuggling up closer to my side. “I do know one thing though, no one wants to live in a doghouse.”

Her hand runs down my arm, and I watch as Cara's eyes follow it all the way to the tips of my fingers. Slipping my arm around her waist, I tug her as close to my body as I can. Leaning over, I kiss her forehead.

Am I doing this to be an asshole? Maybe. But I think it's more about letting her see that my life isn't over because she isn’t in it. And I know that's exactly what she thought would happen. She didn’t just want to leave me. She wanted to leave me in tatters. She wanted to hurt me. And she did for a while, but now the hurt is just gone.

A flicker of jealousy brushes across her face. It's brief, a small, faint glint in her eyes, and gone as fast as lightening.

“Okay, well, I'd like to say it was good to see you, but I'd be lying. We all know that.” Cara whips around on her heels and storms off around the corner. She's gone as quickly as she appeared, and I'm more than happy to see her go.