One More Chance

“I figured the owner of a shop as prestigious as this one would be in more often,” I said.

“Well, her best friend manages it, so I think they sort of tag team. Her name’s Kristi. She’s coming into the shop in a few minutes. Want to stick around for her?”

“That’s fine. I really do need to speak with Ana, though. I’m a lawyer, and I’ve got some things I need to discuss with her.”

“Oh my gosh. Is everything okay? Is there something I can do to help her out?”

“You want to help out your boss with legal matters?” I asked.

“She helped me during a really bad time in my life. If she’s going through one, I’d really like to help if I can.”

The picture she was painting of Ana was exactly the picture I had conjured in my mind for the past nine years. Beautiful. Caring. Selfless. All traits she’d had in high school that had drawn me to her in the first place.

My heart slammed against my chest as I walked over to the cash register. I didn’t need to be throwing my weight around as a lawyer, but if it got me closer to Ana, then I would do anything necessary.

Anything to sit down and talk with her.

“Do you know how I might be able to reach her?” I asked.

“She lets us all have her business cell in case of emergencies, and I think this constitutes as one. Here, let me write it down.”

“Her business cell?”

“She has a cell phone for personal calls and one that’s strictly for the shop. That’s the one we all call her on if we need her to come in or have a question or something.”

So that was how she kept tabs on things without having regular hours. Smart.

Then again, Ana had always been smart.

The girl behind the counter passed me a card with a number written on it. I thanked her for her time before walking out. Just as I got into my car, Kristi walked up the sidewalk. I quickly pulled out of my parking space and made my way to the nearest lot, knowing I didn’t have much time before the cashier would spill everything to her. That would ultimately lead to a phone call to Ana, and I wanted to get her on the phone before any of that happened.

I typed in the number as quickly as I could and listened as the ringing of the phone filled my car.

“Everything okay, Shelby?”

“So that’s the cashier’s name. She never introduced herself,” I said, grinning.

The phone call went silent, and I watched my dash. The seconds continued to tick by, which meant she hadn’t hung up the call. Better than I figured I would encounter.

“Can we talk, Ana?”

“Kristi is beeping in. Hold on,” she said.

“Don’t worry. She’s calling to tell you a lawyer came in asking for your information.”

“She’s what?”

“It was the only way I knew to get your contact information.”

“You couldn’t have simply asked?”

“Would you have given it to me?”

“No.”

“Then you see why I did what I did,” I said.

“What do you want, Tyler? I’ll have to change my number after this phone call, by the way.”

“I want to sit down and talk with you. Maybe over dinner?”

“No,” she said flatly.

“It’s on me. Nothing special. Is that taco place still open?”

“You’re not taking me to the place where you asked me to be your girlfriend in high school.”

I grinned. “So you do remember.”

“What do you want to talk about that can’t be talked about now?”

“I figure eight years gives us a lot to talk about.”

“I’m not sitting down to a dinner my ex pays for and catching up with him as if nothing has happened.”

“Then sit down with your ex and let’s talk about how we left things so we can both get closure.”

“I don’t need closure.”

“I know you need closure,” I said.

“Eight years changes a lot. I coped and I moved on. Are you telling me you haven’t?”

“No, I haven’t.”

She went silent again as I folded my arms across my chest. I didn’t even bother looking down at the timing of the phone call. I knew I already had Ana’s interest piqued. I drew in a deep breath and waited for her to gather her thoughts, waited for her to respond. I’d never been dishonest with her in high school and I wasn’t going to start doing that now.

She’d been the only person other than Brandon I had felt I could expose myself to, and that hadn’t changed.

“I have to work Saturday, and possibly Sunday depending on how the summertime rush does at the store today.”

“You’ve got summertime rush down to one day?” I asked.

“I don’t act like I know how your business works, so don’t patronize mine.”

“I wasn’t patronizing your work, simply asking a question about it.”

“No, you were mocking what I said. Because like you think you know me, I know you.”