From Then Until Forever

Colleen feels the change in the air. Something is afoot in small Falls Village, but she can’t put her finger on it. Then a handsome young man, not anyone she recognizes as a resident in town, strolls in sniffing the air and counting how many steps it takes him to reach her counter. She smiles.
She wanted to be a teacher like her daughter had become and done her proud. She had been accepted into a special education program at the University of Maine and was going to specialize in autism until everything changed. A couple lines on a pregnancy test later and she stayed in Falls Village instead of starting college like her friends.
She recognizes the man’s actions and smiles again. She may not have gone into the field, but she always joked wherever she went that she must have a magnet implanted inside her. If she took Taylor to the zoo, they’d sure to be in line with a family who had a special needs child that would offer her a shy smile. If she was at the doctor’s office, in would walk an adult with their helper and plop down next to her and ask, “You be my friend?” So even though she never fulfilled her dream of working with the population, she’d honed a few skills over the years.
She watches the man as he examines the confections in her store and sizes up the stools at the counter. He inhales and sighs then quirks his head to the side with a quizzical expression on his face.
“You can have a seat and I’ll get you a plate of whatever you want.”
Without making eye contact, she notices that he looks at her just slightly off to the right of her face. The man says, “I’m not from here. I’m a tourist.”
“Um, that’s okay. You don’t need to be from here to enjoy dessert.”
“I do like sweets.”
“Okay, then what can I get you?”
“A social clue, my girlfriend to forgive me, and my life to not suck.”
Colleen stares slack-jawed at the man who just blurted that out like the best of them then she shrugs and asks, “Okay, how about a piece of salted caramel fudge and a few pieces of saltwater taffy to start? We’ll fix your life once we know each other better.”
The man makes eye contact with her as a shy smile crosses his face and his cheeks slightly redden. Then he chuckles. “Was that the wrong thing to say? I mean, you wanted my order, I get that, but sometimes I just say what’s in my head. It’s usually not the right thing.”
“Your order would have been fine for now, but hey, that was an icebreaker, right? I’m Colleen, by the way, I own the place. What’s your name, kid?”
“Ian,” the man who was in Falls Village undercover to find the guy that was stalking one of his best friend’s exes, lies. His name isn’t Ian, it’s Callan Black, but he can’t tell anyone that. “I’ll have the taffy you mentioned and maybe a small piece of each fudge flavor.”
“Each? I have twelve today.”
The man shrugs. “Yeah. One of each, please.”
Colleen smiles and heads into the back to search for a larger plate than she keeps up front for her typical customers and maybe the number of a local dentist. If this kid is going to eat twelve pieces of her fudge, he’ll need one within the hour. Most customers take their orders to go in a baggie, the ones who do stay to eat, only usually require a small dessert plate, so it takes her a few minutes to locate what she needs.