“Well, yes.” I tilt my head and narrow my eyes at her. “You didn’t know?”
“How could I?”
Okay, this is odd. I don’t expect to know everyone in town, but I do expect them to know who I am. Is it possible she just doesn’t recognize me? The press does blur the photos.
“I thought most everyone in town knew me.”
She pauses for a long moment, looking at me carefully. Her throat bobs as she swallows, and her gaze drops to her drink.
“Well, I’m not from around here,” Cherry says. She looks at me sideways, somewhat indignant.
“Really?” I choose to ignore her expression. I’m caught a little off guard, but now I am even more intrigued. “Where are you from?”
“Maryland.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s not that big of a state.”
“I suppose not.” I grin. I still can’t believe I’ve been sitting with her all this time, assuming she knew exactly whom she was talking to, and I feel the need to reset. She has no idea who I am or what I do. “So what brings you to the big city of Cascade Falls?”
“It’s not that big of a city.”
“Fair enough.” I laugh. “Still, you must have had a reason to pick this area.
Did you come here for work?”
“Well, I am looking for work,” she replies, “but I haven’t found any just yet. I have some applications in.”
“Really? Where?” My fingers start to tingle, hoping she’ll mention a business I run or at least have some control over.
“A couple of places.”
I’m sure she’s being intentionally vague.
“Well, what kind of experience do you have? I’m sure there’s something around here that would suit you.”
“I was a waitress at a diner in my hometown,” Cherry says, “and I worked for a while at the local library. Small town and not a lot of options for someone with no experience, so handing people sandwiches and shelving books based on the Dewey decimal system is about all the work experience I have. I thought about college, but…well, that’s expensive, so work first.”
“What do you want to study?”
“Botany.”
“Really?”
“Why?” She glares. “You have something against plants?”
“Of course not. I’m just a little surprised, that’s all.”
“Why is that so surprising? If you say something about women in science, I’m going to smack you.”
“Are you now?” I raise an eyebrow.
“A fair warning seems polite.”
“I suppose it is.” I snicker. “No, I wasn’t going to say anything like that. It’s just not the sort of field I expect to hear out of people. It’s a great option with a lot of potential. How did you get into it?”
“I don’t know,” Cherry says with a shrug of her shoulder. “How does anyone get into anything? I like plants even if they don’t like me.”