“I don’t mean happy in the overall sense of the word,” Lainey explained as Jillian guided them through the sea of people.
“Of course you don’t,” Jill muttered. “That would be too easy.”
Lainey tripped, knocking Jill off balance, as a lull drifted between songs. It had to be then that her friend added, “I mean happy in the postcoital-glow way.”
Laughter ensued, but only for a second until another song muffled it. Jilly’s stomach burned as she ducked her head and picked up the pace. Just what she needed: people talking about her nonexistent sex life at a high school reunion she hadn’t even attended.
Lainey was repeating “sorry” as they walked and nudged, reaching a door at the side of the gym. Jillian was so focused on getting out, on people not seeing her, that she didn’t know if her friend was apologizing to her or to the people they bumped into on their way.
Lainey hustled beside her, pulling at one of her arms, and made her stop. “Jill. Sweetie. Stop.” She pulled Jill around to face her. “Graham’s a good guy.”
Jillian was on the verge of cranky, but she knew her friend just wanted good things for both of them. “Then you should date him. I’m happy with my life.”
“How happy?” Lainey’s grin, like her personality, was relentless.
Jillian tipped her head up to the dark sky and groaned. “Can we go? Please? Stop worrying about my dating life.”
Lainey walked beside her, bumping her with her shoulder. “Can’t worry about what doesn’t exist. Though, maybe you’re right about Graham. Maybe you’re right to hold out.”
Jillian huffed out a breath as they walked along the side of the school toward the front parking lot. “I’m not holding out.”
Lainey gave her that look again; the one that hinted there was something she knew that Jilly didn’t. Fortunately, Jillian knew better than to open another can of worms.
As they hopped into her beloved VW bug, Jillian’s thoughts returned to Levi, her childhood crush. She wasn’t actually holding out for anyone, but if she were… he’d be the one. Lainey was snoring softly before they even reached her home, but, with Jilly’s help, she roused enough to get into her apartment over her shop.
Jilly didn’t have a direction in mind when she left Lainey’s, but her mind was swirling with a mix of the past and present, and she knew if she went home now, she wouldn’t sleep. She might not have a man in her life but she could, and would, always have pie.
Two
Every town worth its name had a decent pie shop. As the night waitress at Petal’s Pie Palace took her order—decaf tea, a piece of apple (a classic), peach-blueberry (her favorite), and chocolate cream (obvious reasons), Jillian told herself it was okay to indulge. She’d rather have three pieces of pie than a six-pack of beer. She might feel as gross as Lainey tomorrow as a result but it wouldn’t give her a headache.
She glanced around the small shop that was basically a Smile institution, and memories of coming here as a teen drifted lazily through her brain. Petal’s stayed open until the wee hours of the morning for people who needed a delicious, carb-rich snack after a late night at Brothers’ Pub, Lakeview Bar (which wasn’t really much of a bar at all but stayed open until two on the weekends), or unnecessary high school reunions.
The booths were a faded teal color with bubble-gum-pink flecks that, at one time, looked like confetti or sprinkles. Music played softly through the speakers but Jilly knew it came from a Bluetooth speaker rather than the antique jukebox in the corner. The place had the same sort of nostalgic vibe the breakfast diner on Middle Street, Pete’s, did.
The waitress dropped off three plates of pie and asked, again, if anyone was joining her.
“Nope,” Jilly said, pushing down the need to explain herself for ordering three pieces. She could eat a whole damn pie if she wanted. Being a grown-up didn’t come with nearly as many perks as kids thought it did. Ordering as much dessert as she wanted was one of them.
“’Kay,” the waitress said, like the one syllable was all she could handle. She was probably about seventeen or eighteen and it was late, so maybe two syllables was asking too much.
Sliding her fork into the chocolate cream first, she then let the rich flavors burst on her tongue. Was there anything better than pie at nearly one in the morning? Scooping up a bite of peach-blueberry, she smiled, knowing what Lainey’s answer would be.
For all her teasing, Lainey didn’t date much more than Jilly did. Though her best friend didn’t have the ex-husband who turned out to be a lying, embezzling rat-snake (Ollie insisted that was the worst combination of creatures imaginable) in her past, Lainey shared Jill’s wariness of leaning too heavily on anyone other than herself.
While she nibbled from each pie plate, Jilly went through her Notes app and her to-do lists. Most people in Smile wore many hats, and Jilly was no different. She’d taken a leave from her job at the accounting firm to help her oldest brother. In the end, she’d loved working at the lodge enough to not go back. She had a few businesses that she did books on the side for, including Pete’s, her brother Beckett’s bike shop, and Lainey’s bracelet shop. But she also had other plans and here, at the pie place, in the middle of the night, when she didn’t want to dwell on the past and didn’t want to go home to her present, she could think about her future.
The lodge was well set up to handle events like team-buildingsessions, bachelor or bachelorette parties, and even weddings. She just needed to find the most cost-effective way to present the idea to Grayson. Presley, her soon-to-be sister-in-law if her brother Beckett ever got around to proposing, would help her with the marketing.
By next year, she hoped Get Lost Lodge would be the go-to place to host events in Smile, Northern Michigan, and surrounding islands.
“You want anything else?” the waitress asked, appearing like a pie-wielding ninja.
“I’m good,” Jilly said, glancing up.
There were only a couple of other people in the shop but the waitress hesitated, staring at Jill, not delivering her orders.
Jill waited, wondering if the teen was okay, if maybe she needed something. Her nose scrunched up, making her nose ring look uncomfortable.
