Joanna:??????????It’s so nice. I think there was some talk about turning it into a bed-and-breakfast for a while? But I guess those plans changed, and it was sold to Dale, at first—he was the mayor. He and his wife lived there a few years, and they put it on the market right when Matt and Lucy were moving here. There were multiple offers, but Dale chose them because of Lucy.
Ben:???????????????He knew her?
Joanna:??????????He knew her parents. Everyone did. It just felt right that it should go to her, considering her family’s history with the town. I remember thinking that Lucy really lucked out, marrying a guy who came from money. She never would have been able to afford that house otherwise. People thought that Lucy lucked out in general with Matt, actually.
Ben:???????????????Yeah? He was well liked around here?
Joanna:??????????Oh yeah. Are you kidding? People loved him. And it just … it goes to show, doesn’t it?
Ben:???????????????What?
Joanna:??????????Men. I’m sorry, hon, don’t take this personal, but with Matt and Lucy, it really seemed to prove that men only care about looks. Because Lucy, well, she’s beautiful, but …
Ben:???????????????But?
Joanna:??????????Well, I guess you don’t have to be nice when you look like that, do you?
Ben:???????????????She had a lot of friends, though? By all accounts, she was pretty social.
Joanna:??????????I guess.
I also spoke with Nina Garcia, who was one of Lucy’s best friends in high school. Nina is a nurse at a nearby hospital, and she’s still wearing her pink scrubs when I arrive at her home, her dark hair falling out of a clip.
Nina:?????????????Sorry, twelve-hour shift. I’m scattered. What were you saying?
Ben:???????????????Were you surprised when Lucy moved back after college?
Nina:??????????????No, not at all. Lucy’s family, on her mom’s side, has been here for like … ever. Like I think they were one of the original families who settled here. And even though she wasn’t the cheerleader type like Savvy, she still embraced small-town life. She said we were a cool small town, like Stars Hollow.
Ben:???????????????I don’t know Stars Hollow. Where is that?
Nina:?????????????From Gilmore Girls, Ben. You need to brush up on your early-2000s television.
Ben:???????????????I will get right on that.
Nina:?????????????Except with more wine. We’re Stars Hollow, but with more wine and cowboy boots. Anyway, Lucy and I grew apart a little in college—we went to different ones—but I was excited when she texted me that she was moving back with Matt after the wedding. She said he’d fallen in love with the town when they visited her parents, and he wanted to open a brewery/restaurant thing. Thought it would be perfect, since we have so many tourists. Figured he could get the husbands who weren’t into wine. Didn’t work out, I guess. It was only open a few years.
Ben:???????????????So, you two reconnected when she moved back?
Nina:?????????????Ehhh … sort of? I mean, that was the plan. But we had both changed, and it was kind of hard. I was about to give birth to my first, and she wasn’t even thinking about kids yet, so we didn’t really have a lot in common. And my ex was … well, he preferred for me to be home. And then Lucy started hanging out with Savvy and some of the women in her neighborhood. The friendship just fizzled. High school friendships don’t always transfer to adulthood, you know?
Ben:???????????????Sure.
Nina:?????????????And Lucy and Savvy … they had one of those intense, obsession-like friendships, you know?
Ben:???????????????I don’t.
Nina:?????????????I guess it’s mostly women who do it. But sometimes you meet a girl who is just, like, your soulmate. Not in a romantic way, but in a friend way. Which can almost be more intense. You could tell that Savvy and Lucy were in one of those intense friend-soulmate relationships.
Ben:???????????????An intense relationship usually has pretty serious ups and downs. Did they fight?
Nina:?????????????I don’t really know. I didn’t hang out with them much.
Ben:???????????????I’ve heard that Lucy has a temper. Did you ever see that?
Nina:?????????????I mean … I don’t know. Would people say she had a temper if she was a man? They’d say she stood up for herself when it was needed.
So that’s what I’m going with. Lucy wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself.
CHAPTER NINE
LUCY
I don’t realize it’s Saturday until I step into the grocery store. I have no sense of time without a job.
But, apparently, it’s Saturday, so the entire town of Plumpton is out shopping for groceries. There are two large grocery stores in town, but the other one is shitty and gets whatever produce was left over.