“Yes, baby girl. Let’s wish Aunt Bubby luck, okay?”
“Luck!” Ivy shrieked excitedly, smacking her hand over her mouth and blowing me a loud kiss. Then she ran back to the living room to play, chatting animatedly to herself.
Bag packedand filled with resolve, I headed to Vermont a day early. I had reached out to Nic, and we were meeting for coffee at The Beanery, the local coffee place on Birch Hollow’s Main Street.
Nic’s grin spread wide when she entered the coffee shop and saw me at a table, sipping my latte. I admired her plum-colored dress, her denim jacket, her lightweight patterned scarf, and her laced-up combat boots. She had a style that on someone else might’ve looked ridiculous, but on her, it just worked. Her usual strawberry-blonde hair was colored a vibrant shade of red and cut into an adorable pixie cut. I stood and leaned down to hugher, feeling her enthusiasm ripple through me as she returned the hug.
“You look good!” she said exuberantly. “I swear it’s like you haven’t even aged since high school. It’s seriously unfair. You must share your skincare routine.”
I choked out a hearty laugh. Same old Nic. I unwound my own scarf and set it next to me. My hands suddenly felt clumsy and in need of a purpose.
“You look great, too,” I returned honestly. “How’s Bryan?”
“Oh, perfect,” she said simply, on a sigh. “He’s taken up woodworking, of all things. Leave it to my tech geek to go for a lumberjack hobby—but whatever makes him happy, right?”
My heart gave a pang as she hopped up to order.
She came back with some sickeningly sweet-looking Frappuccino. “So tell me—you’re still in Boston? Still a nurse?”
“Yes and yes. I’m in NICU. It’s—heartbreaking. Challenging. But sometimes they don’t have anyone else, you know? They’re tiny and alone, and they just need someone to nurture them.” She nodded, prodding me along. “Sometimes they do have people in their corner—and we get to know the families. Some families come every day, for months. It’s a really fierce kind of love. Pretty amazing to witness,” I continued. “What about you? I’m sorry—I don’t even know what you do these days.”
“I work a few days a week at Fran’s. You know, the craft store on Main? Though Bryan likes to joke that I spend my whole paycheck on yarn for my various projects.” She beamed again. “I like to crochet.” She pulled out her phone, swiping to pictures of various cute handmade animals. “They’re called amigurumi,” she explained. She set her phone down, waiting for me to pick up the conversation.
“They’re all really cute,” I told her with a smile. “Do you... keep in touch with Cade?” I ventured.
Her eyes lit up. “You don’t even know—he’s back. He lives here, in Birch Hollow—full time. That wilderness training program he did a while back? I guess he made some connections, and they asked him to join their Search-and-Rescue team. Him and Echo both. He comes over to hang out with Bryan all the time. And we have a standing game night.”
“I—knew he’d moved,” I began slowly. “But I didn’t know where. And I saw he was coming to the reunion,” I admitted.
“I thought he’d be bringing Chrissa,” she began, answering the question I wasn’t brave enough to ask. “But they broke up—oh, a couple months ago, I think?” She seemed to rack her brain for the specifics. “She was sweet, but she definitely wasn’t the one.”
I fiddled with my drink cup, telling my heart to stop fluttering that Cade was presumably single.
“He’ll be happy to see you,” she continued encouragingly, her head bobbing.
“I’ll be happy to see him, too,” I told her truthfully. “I screwed it up, you know,” I told her. “With us.”
“I know.” She looked thoughtful. “So—unscrew it up.”
She made it sound so simple. I only hoped my newfound courage would last long enough that I could do just that.
“You sure youdon’t want me to wait out here with you?” Nic asked as we stood in front of the cabin where the reunion was held. I smiled at her cute flannel PJs and slippers. Bryan, of course, had on a matching ensemble, to fit the get-together’s “high school sleepover” theme. I had worn some of my comfort clothes, baggy cotton shorts in a worn sweatpant material, a snug-fitting solid tee, and an oversized sweatshirt.
“No, I'm good,” I told her, as confidently as I could. “You go on in with Bryan. I just want to catch him when he comes in. I want to see if I can talk to him, before we’re surrounded by dozens of classmates.”
And before I lost my nerve.
Twenty or thirty guests filtered by, all making their way into the large cabin. I shifted my weight from foot to foot. Hewascoming, wasn’t he?
Then I saw him.
He wore plaid pajama pants, flip flops, and a t-shirt that said VERMONT SEARCH AND RESCUE in block letters on the upper left side of the chest.
When his eyes met mine, recognition, surprise, and—could that be happiness?—crossed his face.
He stopped in front of me, close enough I could count his freckles. His face looked—different. It took me a moment to realize that his normally clean-shaven face was now covered in stubble. I liked it. I wanted to run my hands across the rough texture. His face looked older, still boyish but with an added ruggedness that only heightened his appeal.
“Hi,” I ventured, suddenly feeling more shy than I’d ever felt in my life.
