“Just your old buddy there. Giving you a heads-up,” he replied, his voice low.
“Appreciate it, but no need. I’m used to seeing him around town. Don’t get me wrong, back when it happened, it sucked. Now, I suppose I should thank him. I would not have wanted to end up with someone who would do that.”
Wes snorted. “Definitely not.”
My former best friend from high school, Lyle, was walking down the aisle, heading right toward us. He glanced up, his eyes landing on me and Wes. He lifted his chin casually.
“Hey,” I replied as Wes and I walked by.
Wes had been a few years ahead of me in high school, and his mom was friends with my mom. We knew each other pretty well and had gotten even closer now that we were both firefighters.
“He’s an ass,” Wes added after Lyle was out of earshot.
I shrugged. “It’s old news, and they’re getting a divorce.” I rolled my eyes.
“Takes a while, but karma usually catches up,” Wes commented.
“Speaking of old news, or maybe new news, Josie Steele moved back to town. I just saw her this morning at Firehouse Café.”
Wes glanced over. “Nice! Josie’s awesome. Can’t remember when I last saw her.”
“I guess she’s back to stay. I’m meeting her later to see if she wants to stay in that extra cabin on my property while she figures things out.”
“You two were close in high school, huh?” he prompted.
“Oh yeah,” I replied. A clear memory of the feel of her curves pressed against me earlier flashed through my thoughts. “We hung out all the time because I was dating Kayla and she was dating Lyle. We were friends before that, though. Our dads used to do guiding trips together.”
We stopped in the pet section, selecting the needed supplies and a generous bag of cat food before heading back to the station. I saw Lyle on the way out again. He had his usual pinched look. It was kind of funny how someone could do something that hurt so much at first, but in the long run, they hurt more. I was pretty sure Lyle wished we could still be friends, but it wasn’t in the cards for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in forgiveness and all that, but I couldn’t let myself trust someone who did that to me.
Later that afternoon, I texted Josie the address before I left the station, smiling at her quick reply.
Be there with bells on!