#thread: travis

Readjusting to the small town she had called home for so many years of her childhood hadn't been as easy as Addie had thought it would be. Although she had sparingly visited over the years, everything felt so different from when she lived in Briar Ridge in the past. Or maybe it was just that now she was an adult and she did everything for herself. As different as the new stores in town were or new houses popping up confused her on her drives around town, there was one thing that was as familiar as the back of her hand. Her drive from downtown to the Parker Ranch.

Through her childhood, she had been along this route more times than she could count. Driven by her grandparents so someone at the ranch would look after her, driven by Shane after their dates and now by her, as she made a pitstop she had been meaning to make since she got back to town. As familiar as it was, the ranch held a lot of memories she hadn't quite been ready to remember and as she stepped out of her car, the wave of nostalgia was almost too much.

Had she not spotted him in the distance and had she not known for sure that Shane wasn't on the ranch, she might have turned back, but the pull of seeing an old friend couldn't be ignored. "How typical. I go away for twenty years and you're in the same spot I left you in. Pretty sure the same shirt too!"

The boardwalk was busier than Nate had ever seen it. With the festival in full swing and the food stalls lining the structure, it was almost getting hard to move. Taking his paper tray of fries, his third dish from one of the stalls for the day, he turned to try and find somewhere to sit. Normally he'd choose somewhere by the railings, sitting down on the boardwalk with his legs hanging off the edge, but even those spots seemed busy. He was also acutely aware of being that close to the water might make him more likely to attract the attention of a seagull.

Spotting an empty chair under a parasol, Nate made short work getting over to it. The table wasn't empty, but at least the seat was. "Any chance this seat is free? I am willing to fight for it, but I haven't quite stooped low enough to steal it."