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Said friends’ glare drills into my temple. "This is Evan." I point at him awkwardly. "My ex."

"Hi, Evan. What can I get you?" Caleb replies, unfazed. He didn’t even blink at the news.

"A cappuccino, please."

"Really?" I stare from Caleb to Evan. "That's it?"

"What's what?" Caleb tilts his head, confusion written all over his face. "This is a café. What else am I supposed to ask him? ‘What’s your take on aliens?’"

"I don't know. 'Hey, Kieran, you sleep with men? I didn't know you swing that way.'"

A chuckle appears on our right. Oh damn, I didn't even realize Bobby is here. I should have though, he’s a fixture in this café. It used to belong to him, but apparently, he gave it to Caleb at one point, and now he’s usually around to snag up the last cinnamon rolls.

"Kieran, boy, you've been calling me daddy to rile me up for a year. And we're supposed to be surprised by you bringing the Kinstead boy here and telling us he's your ex?"

My jaw drops, but I can’t exactly find a flaw in his logic. "So, what you're telling me is that I've been stressing for nothing?"

"I’m saying a lot of people had their suspicions but are waiting for you to make it official." Bobby bursts into a booming laughter, and I wouldn’t be mad if the ground decided to be a bro and open up for me to jump into.

Evan pats my shoulder. "Now I'm not your dirty little secret anymore. Which means," he brushes past me to the display case, "I can finally try the pastries this asshole has been raving about and blackmailing me with for a year. Can you believe he forbade me from coming here because ‘what would the people think?’"

"Knock yourself out." Caleb makes a vague gesture toward the display case, his back to us as he prepares our cappuccinos.

“Oh wow. I've been stressing for nothing, haven't I?”

The doorbell announces another person entering. In the mirror behind Caleb's counter, I watch Erik shake snow out of his hair.

"Hi, Caleb.” He does a double take. "Evan? You here?"

"Yeah. Me here." The two of them greet each other with a handshake.

“How did I never realize how connected Kinstead and Wayward Hollow are?” I mutter and watch the two of them catch up.

"If there's one thing about Wayward Hollow," Bobby nudges me with his elbow, "it's that people know way more than you think they do." He leans in and lowers his voice. "And don’t you forget it. We all already know you are meeting up with his sister, too."

"Oh God." I bury my face in my hands. I’m aware there's always been gossip about me, but for some reason, this is what makes me want to disappear into a hole in the ground. “I've been stressing for nothing.”

I stare at Caleb’s coffee machine. It’s such a relief. What I didn’t expect, though, is the pain. Strangers accept me without question, but my own family couldn’t?

No, Kieran, stop it. Don’t let the past darken the present or the future. Because they’re looking shiny right now.

"Not for nothing." Bobby pats my shoulder. Evan maneuvers me into the seat next to him. "I mean, this is a small town. Everybody understands your worry."

"Thank you," I say pointedly and shoot Evan a glare, but he completely ignores me as he orders half of Caleb's display case.

Meanwhile, the weight of a fucking boulder falls off my shoulders.

Because I am not losing my home.

Emotions settle in the back of my throat, and I blink the blurriness away. Fuck. I should have done this earlier.

No. This is the perfect moment and the perfect occasion, and the first time I felt ready to live with the consequences, whatever they might be.

The others join us later. Evan and I migrate from the counter to a table, and Nic, Lauren, Kylie, and Henry grab chairs to join us. This group is getting way too big for one of Caleb's tables.

"And I thought about doing gingerbread cookies again for the Christmas market this year," Lauren explains with a grimace, "but the decorating was not a good move for my fingers." She holds her hands up in the air and wriggles said fingers. "So, I convinced Caleb to sell pet cookies instead. Little bone-shaped treats."

"Ha-ha, bones." Nic bursts into a giggle fit. "Fits this year in Wayward Hollow pretty well, don't you think?"