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“That’s fine.”
“You mean you aren’t angry that I won’t be home?”
“No, nothing could make me angry. I’m so excited. Everything is finally coming together and…Bailey is coming back. That was her on the phone. She just confirmed that she is going to be my maid of honor.”
I swear it was those very words that stopped my heart in its tracks.
Cara turned and smiled at me as if she had announced they were having lasagna for dinner and continued on her way down to the basement with the laundry. Ryan looked over at me, his mouth full and concern lining his face. He was waiting until Cara was out of earshot, then leaned forward.
“Man, you all right?” he questioned.
I tore my eyes away from where Cara had stood as the shock of what she had said ran through my mind. I slowly nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Ryan met my eyes and shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Hearing that the girl who broke your heart is returning home can sometimes do a thing to a guy.”
“She didn’t break my heart.” I replied, looking away. Hearing her name had felt like a kick in the gut.
“Really? That’s not how I remember it, Jackson.”
I looked down at the can in my hand, not sure how I felt. “Yep, you’re right, but I’m good.”
Bailey
My mother had done nothing to my room since I’d been gone. It was still the same pale pink color that I had chosen when I was in my early teens. If I were going to stay here and I wasn’t going to get a place of my own, then this room would need a do-over. I stretched, yawned, and rolled onto my back, laying in bed listening to the birds chirping outside my open window. It had been a sound I’d missed while living in a high-rise in a heavily populated city for the past five years. I’d been back in Sunset Cove for exactly forty-eight hours, and it had felt as if I’d never left.
I kicked the purple comforter off me and placed my feet down on the bright pink plush carpet. God, why did I choose pink? I thought to myself. God, I hated pink. I looked around at the mess of my belongings on the floor and then over at the desk. There, facing the wall, was a picture frame I hadn’t noticed until now. I picked it up and flipped it in my hands, looking down at it. Jackson sat behind me; his arms wrapped around me. My hands rested on his forearms and we both smiled at the camera. I remembered the day we’d taken this picture. We’d hiked up to the ridge and had a picnic lunch. Then we’d spent the afternoon laying on the picnic blanket, talking and dreaming of our future together.
I sighed. Suddenly, I started thinking of everything that had happened shortly after and I shoved the frame into the desk drawer. I took a moment to gather myself, then reached for a bag on the floor. Everywhere I looked, there were reminders of him and me. The teddy bear he had won for me at the Sunset Cove Fair sat on the chair in the corner of my room. Ticket stubs from one of the last concerts we had been to were stuck in the mirror’s frame that hung on the wall. The necklace he had given me for our sixth anniversary lay perfectly sprawled out on top of my dresser, so the chain didn’t tangle. Memories of him were everywhere.
“Time to rise and shine,” I heard my mother call from the hall. “You start your new job today. Don’t want you to be late.”
I smiled to myself. It didn’t matter how long I’d been gone from home, Mom always thought I needed a guiding hand. I reached for my sweatshirt that hung over the footboard of the bed and threw it over my head. Trudging to the bathroom, I swept my hair up into a ponytail and splashed some water on my face before heading to the kitchen.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes greeted me. “Morning, Mom.”
“Good morning,” she said as she bent into the fridge and pulled out the syrup. “Did you want juice? I have orange and apple.”
“Nah, I’m good with coffee. Not much of a juice drinker.”
“Bailey, you really should have juice. A good balanced diet contains Vitamin C in the morning.”
“I have Vitamin C right here.” I said, holding up my cup of coffee and grinning.
Mom gave me a look and shook her head while placing the bottle of juice in the center of the table.
I grabbed a juice glass from the cupboard and set it on the table, then took my favorite mug and filled it, carefully placing the carafe back on the hot plate. I took a sip of the hot coffee and looked out the kitchen window into the backyard. Four hooded orioles sat on the edge of the birdbath, each one taking their turn in the water.
“So, what’s it like to be back home?”
“A little surreal, but nice. I see you’re still feeding the orioles.”
“Yes, Connor used to love them. He would watch them for hours on end when he was younger. They seem to be here in abundance ever since…” She stopped talking.
I turned to see her standing there, her eyes closed, her hand wrapped around the handle of the flipper tight enough to make her knuckles turn white.
“I mean, for the last few years,” Mom murmured as she flipped the pancakes onto a plate.
I swallowed hard as I took on her moment of unease and sadness to invade me. I looked out the back window, at the trees that had changed color, brilliant yellow and the slightest hint of orange stood out in the sunlight. Even though I knew mom was okay, I couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling. I missed my brother so much, but I had gotten to escape the nightmare. Mom, however, still lived in the same house she was in the night Dad walked out on us, and the unfortunate night that asshole had taken Connor from us.
