Page 3 of Blue Jeans in Low Beams

“As long as you study! Pass those boards.”

“Yes, Dad…”

Brandt glares at me, hating my snarky response. I know how much he hates it when I call him that, the insinuation that he’s old hitting home, those twelve years between us a little more glaring when I point it out.

“You know how proud I am of you, right?” he asks, turning serious. “I know that really does make me sound like Dad, but, really, Bren, graduating at the top of your class, not only with your undergrad but from pharmacy school, is also a big deal.”

“Well, had I figured out pharma was what I wanted sooner, then I could have avoided a couple of years of school there, but hey. Never did take the easy route, did I?”

Brandt sits down next to me, the mattress bobbing from the extra weight. Slinging an arm around me, he squeezes, the side hug made that much more awkward by the suitcase tipping into us.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Finish getting you packed so we can get you on the road. You’ve got, like, ten minutes before you and Milo need to leave. And then I can get started on hot-girl summer.”

“I meant for you. Heard anything from that company your advisor mentioned?”

I shake my head. “Nope, but wasn’t really expecting to. Graduation was only a couple of weeks ago, and I can't sit for the boards for weeks. I’m sure I’ll hear something once that’s all closer and I’m potentially certified. ’Til then, I’ll be helping out at Hickory Hills Drugs, trying to ignore Mr. Hovland’s pleas for me to stay.”

“Would staying in Hickory Hills be that bad?”

I look at my brother, searching for the answer. One I know I don’t have.

On the one hand, Hickory Hills is home. My whole family is here—parents, grandparents, Brandt, Bryce, and her husband and kids. Plus, at least for now, Mell. There are a lot worse places on this planet than Hickory Hills, Georgia.

However…there are also better places. No, that’s not quite right. Different places. Places where I haven’t known the whole town my entire life. Ones where life isn’t dictated by town gossip. Where I have a chance at anonymity.

I’m a small-town girl at heart. Always will be. I’m just not sure that it’s where I want to stay.

“Not bad,” I acquiesce. “But this is maybe also my chance at something new and different. I won’t lie; I have no idea what I want.”

“You got time. Just trust this old man, follow your heart, and you won’t be sorry.”

“Brandt!” Milo’s voice carries up the stairs and into the room, his impatience clear.

“On my way!” Brandt shouts back, before turning to me and mouthing, “Shit!”

I laugh, pushing to my feet to help him zip everything up. A heartbeat later, we’re down the stairs, standing at the front door of the loft. My heart squeezes, the reality that Brandt is really leaving hitting me. We’ve spent so many years apart with me up north for school, this summer was supposed to be our chance to hang.

Not that I blame him for going. CSU is a better offer.

“Alright kid, place is yours. Well, half yours,” Brandt says. “Gotta put up with this one.”

Milo scoffs. “I’m a walk in the park compared to Bryce, Topher, and those kids crammed into your parents’ place.”

Ha, now there’s an understatement. My skin crawls with the idea of trying to share a house with my parents, sister, and her husband and kids. All of whom are currently cohabitating in my childhood home thanks to Bryce’s house being under renovation. Nothing about that sounds like a good time.

“Thank you again for letting me stay. I promise to take care of your room. It will be cleaner than you left it, guaranteed.”

“As long as you’re not bringing strange men back to the loft, whatever you do is your business.”

“Dude…” Milo comments.

“Where exactly am I finding these strange men in the itty-bitty rural town we’ve lived in our whole lives?”

“You’re the one who said you are having hot-girl summer.”

Touché…