Free Hometown Love by Christina Tetreault

the menu sounds good. What are you ordering?” Mack asked.
    Jessie lowered the menu and looked at him. “I should go with the grilled chicken salad, but I’m leaning toward the Portsmouth pie.”
    Salads made great additions to meals, but they weren’t a meal, at least not to him. “What’s that?” He’d only glanced at the menu, assuming it hadn’t changed since the last time he’d eaten dinner there. He didn’t recall anything called a Portsmouth pie.
    “Look under seafood. It’s one of the new dishes they added last winter. It contains shrimp, scallops, and lobster.”
    Mack raised the menu again. Perhaps it warranted a closer look. Sure enough, several new dishes filled each section of the dinner menu.
    “Mack Ellsbury, I heard you moved back.”
    Mack glanced up and saw Brendan Michaels at their table. A fellow classmate, they’d played on a lot of the same sports teams as kids. Even back then, Brendan had been a pain in the ass, always picking on the kids he didn’t like. Once, in high school, he’d given up sports and taken up partying. Mack hadn’t seen the guy since their last high school reunion and had no desire to catch up now.
    “Hey, Brendan. Moved back last week.”
    Brendan slapped him on the back and Mack caught a whiff of beer. “Well, welcome back. We should catch up sometime.” Without another word, he headed off to a corner table where his older brother and sister in-law sat.
    “He hasn’t changed, has he?” Mack put his menu off to the side.
    Jessie placed hers on top. “No. I think a lot of people wish he’d move somewhere else. Earlier this summer he even got into a fight with Sean.”
    Sean had never been one to get into fights so Mack was curious what could have provoked him. Before he could ask about it though, their waitress appeared.
    While they waited for their appetizer, they discussed the recent happenings in town. Then when the buffalo tenders, one of Mack’s favorite appetizers, arrived he pushed the plate toward Jessie so she could take one.
    “So, if you weren’t here tonight, what would you be doing?” Mack grabbed the last buffalo tender from the plate between them. While Jessie had eaten one or two, he’d more or less polished off the entire appetizer himself.
    “Depends.” Jessie stirred her ice tea with her straw. “A few months ago, I would’ve been up to my eyeballs with everyone’s taxes. When it’s not tax season, I sometimes visit my grandparents and dad. Occasionally I do a girls’ night out with Kelsey and Maryann. But most Saturday nights, I stay home and watch a movie.”
    It didn’t escape him that she hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend or dating. Had Sean threatened every guy in town against asking Jessie out? The guy had always treated Jessie as a second sister. Rather than ask her about her romantic life, which really wasn’t any of his business, he latched onto something else she’d mentioned. “You’re an accountant?” From behind him, the waitress came back to remove the empty appetizer plates.
    “I double-majored in management and accounting. Besides running the store, I take care of the accounting for Peggy Sue’s and The Hair Cottage. Then, during tax season, I do taxes for a bunch of people.”
    Sounded like a busy but boring life to him. “Don’t be surprised if you find me knocking on your door next April. My old accountant quit and I don’t have the patience for doing my own.”
    “I’d prefer if you didn’t wait until April. It’s much better when I get all the materials early, but I’d be happy to do them for you.”
    When their dinners arrived a few minutes later they both started on their meals. While he’d dated a good deal before his marriage, he hadn’t done much since the separation and divorce. And while this wasn’t a date, but rather, two acquaintances sharing a meal, he found himself enjoying her company. In fact, he’d enjoyed her company all day.
    “What would you be doing if you weren’t