Forever and For Always

“Get lost, ya creep!” Jayne shouted.

“No, no, he’s not honking like that,” Emily puffed, shaking her head. “That’s Parker, my wholesaler. He’s honking to say hello.” She waved back.

“Oh,” Jayne said. “Does everyone know everyone else here then?”

There was a hint of disdain in her voice. Emily recognized it because she’d shared the same views when she’d first arrived – of Sunset Harbor being a boring small town, filled with busybodies who knew each other’s business.

“Pretty much,” she panted, only she said it with a grin, because that fact was one of the best things about the town to her now, because she’d made so many friends since she’d gotten here and had changed her opinions of so many things it was almost unfathomable.

They reached the bridge that connected the island to the mainland.

“This is where my car broke down,” Emily said, recalling the moment she’d become stranded on the bridge on her way into Sunset Harbor, just as a snowstorm had begun. It had been Birk who’d rescued her that night. Though it had been awful at the time, Emily now remembered that night fondly.

“Uh-huh,” Jayne said, seemingly uninterested. Her enthusiasm for the ocean had already seemed to wane. “Oh my God,” she said, suddenly brightening. “Did you watch the last season of Singing Sensations?”

“Nope,” Emily said. “I don’t have a TV anymore.”

Jayne looked horrified. “Oh. Okay. Well, anyway, there was this one contestant who was literally the hottest human in the entire universe.”

Emily listened patiently as Jayne spoke about things she now considered unimportant. Had she sounded so boring to other people once upon a time? Had she really cared about such trivial things? The only good thing about Jayne commanding the conversation was that Emily could focus on breathing, something that was becoming increasingly difficult the further they ran.

“How’s life, though?” Emily asked as soon as there was a moment of silence. She wanted to know about actual stuff, not all this pointless TV gossip.

“It’s all right,” Jayne said. “I split up with Harry. You know that, right? Then I was seeing Brandon for a while. Still am. Kind of. We have a casual thing going on.”

Emily nodded and focused on keeping one foot pounding in front of the other. “And work?” she asked when she realized Jayne had finished talking.

“A constant stream of never-ending crap,” Jayne replied. “I’m so envious of you. I would love to have nothing to do all day.”

Emily frowned. “I work,” she said, though her shallow breath didn’t allow her to embellish.

“Oh, come on,” Jayne said. “It’s hardly comparable, is it? Twelve-hour days in a New York office compared to loafing around in an oceanside B&B!”

“I work,” Emily said more forcefully. “And I don’t loaf.”

Jayne looked over at her friend. “Are you red because you’re mad at me or because of the jogging?”

“Both,” Emily stammered.

Jayne drew to a halt. Emily stopped next to her. She bent over and gripped her knees, taking deep breaths.

“I didn’t mean you didn’t work,” Jayne said, her tone sounding like one audible eye roll. “I just meant that there’s clearly a slower pace to life out here. I’m telling you I’m jealous of you. That’s a good thing!”

Emily straightened up. Was that how she and her friends used to express themselves, through being jealous of one another? What was wrong with just supporting each other’s ventures, rather than comparing themselves constantly to work out who was on top at any given moment?