“Denver isn’t that far,” Erin said, going in for another hug. “We’ll be back for the Fourth of July.”
Mattie nodded before looking back at me as if just remembering I was still here. “Frankie, you remember my friend Erin from the wedding. She’s married to Giles’s cousin, Johnny.”
“Right, of course.” I waved, the reminder effectively jogging my memory.
“And of course I remember you!” Erin exclaimed. “I was in awe of the color-coded itinerary you handed out to all the guests.”
“Oh, um, yeah. I’m a pretty organized person.” That was an understatement. That color-coded itinerary was nothing compared to the binder I’d put together for Mattie. She had begged me not to plan her entire wedding, but I hadn’t listened. Growing up, everyone had always joked that I had the older sister energy. Not that Mattie was a mess by any means; we were actually quite similar in a lot of ways. It was just that I’d never met a situation I didn’t want to take charge of. That had caused us to butt heads quite a bit growing up,but Mattie had slowly learned to just let things go when it came to me. If I wanted to plan something, she no longer fought me tooth and nail on it.
When she had moved to Key Ridge, I’d been shocked. She’d had a nice little career of her own in Florida, and our lives were relatively parallel to each other. She’d originally come down here through her last job, but when she’d dropped everything to move here because she’d fallen in love with the town—in addition to some local ex-professional snowboarder—I had thought she’d lost her mind.
But now she had this whole life. She was happy and settled. And here I was, the lost and aimless one.
Mattie and Erin continued their drawn-out goodbye. From what I’d gathered, Erin and her husband were moving to Denver for a job opportunity for him. It was more stable and safer than what he’d been doing—odd jobs around town, including teaching private snowboarding lessons for the Key Ridge Ski Lodge.
Seeing Erin and Mattie give each other one last hug left a lump in my throat. It was a stark reminder that my sister had created this whole family here. Even though I had lived in Atlanta for years—owned a condo, had roommates, the whole thing—I hardly had any acquaintances outside of work, let alone real friends.
Erin waved goodbye and left the bar.
Just as Mattie turned back to me, her phone vibrated on the wooden bar top, almost sending it over the edge. She snatched it and pressed the answer button before holding it to her ear.
“What’s up, Bev?” she asked. Bev was Giles’s aunt and owned the lodge with him. I remembered that much at least.
Lines formed between Mattie’s brows as she listened to whatever Bev was saying on the other end. “Did you check thestorage room? I could have sworn I put the extra sheets there.” She paused before letting out a sigh. “Alright, no worries. I’m still at The Ridge. I’ll swing by before I head home.”
Mattie hung up and slid off her barstool.
“Speaking of Erin and Johnny leaving, I’ve got to run to the lodge. Giles has a friend coming into town to take over the private snowboarding lessons for the rest of the season. He’s staying in the studio above Bev’s garage and she’s rushing around trying to get the room ready before he gets in tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, sticking another few fries in my mouth.
Mattie slipped on her coat and pulled the zipper up all the way to her neck. “You coming?”
I gestured to my full plate of fries and barely sipped margarita. “Um, clearly not.”
“Seriously?” she asked, pulling on her mittens.
Instead of responding, I took a slurp of my drink.
Mattie pinched her lips together and gave a disapproving shake of her head. “Fine, whatever. But I’m going to be at least an hour.”
“Have fun.”
She turned to leave before whipping around. “You’re really going to stay here alone?”
“What better way to commiserate than with myself?” My attempt at a joke fell flat and Mattie’s eyes instantly softened. “I’ll be okay,” I insisted. “I remember the way back to your house. I’ll finish these and head out.”
“You have the address?” she asked.
Wow, either she was really worried about me, or seriously underestimating me.
“Yes, I have your address. And my phone. Plus, you live like two blocks away. Pretty sure I can find my way back.”
“Says the person who got lost walking back to her owndorm room freshman year of college and had to call the police,” Mattie said.
My smile froze in place. “That was one time,” I said through clenched teeth.
Mattie laughed, tossing her wild light-brown hair back in the process. “Call me if you have any issues.”
