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“What?” I asked right on her heels.
“I mean, you went to prom together,” Brett reasoned.
“Yeah, and you went to prom with Jasmine Conway!”
“Oh, I’ve met Jasmine, she’s sweet.” My brother had really found a great woman. “But Brett, you didn’t really think Dalton and Austin were still dating, did you?”
“I mean, maybe? You guys have been best friends since forever, and I swear Mom is already planning your wedding, and you were dating over the summer, weren’t you? Turner and I were talking about it last week. He made it sound like you two were still together.”
He was talking to Turner about me?
“Yeah, we dated, for like a minute, but no, we’re not still together.”
Turner thinks we’re still together?
“Well, good!” Brett exclaimed. “Because college is for partying and experimenting. Not for being tied down.”
“Oh,” Mallory joked, “so you have problems with being tied down, do you?”
“In college! I said in college. No, my dear, at our esteemed age, there is nothing better than being tied down. Hell, even Turner’s giving it a try!”
I perked up at that, of course, a dribble of coffee traveling down my chin until I wiped it off while casually asking, “Turner’s dating someone?”
“Yeah, he’s finally been venturing out to gay clubs and bars and stuff.”
Mallory jumped in. “We would have taken him to those places, but he didn’t want to go with us, and I get that. But there’s this new guy, a teacher at the middle school.”
Brett jumped in, and I noted how they were able to tell a story in tandem. It was sweet, or it would have been if they weren’t describing my worst nightmare.
“Preston. He’s our age, just moved here from somewhere in the Midwest, just like T. He helps out at the Three B’s part-time too, which is where I think Turner met him.”
I took a big gulp of my cooling coffee. “So Turner is dating a middle school teacher?” I was trying for casual, but I couldn’t help the heavy breath that left me after I said it. A fucking gay, twenty-something middle school teacher sounded like the perfect guy for Turner. I hated him already.
“No,” the two said in unison.
“Oh.”
“They’re just friends, but they’ve been hanging out, and they went to some club last month, and that’s where Turner met Amir. And they’ve been seeing each other ever since.” Mallory studied my face as Brett picked up the story.
“Dude, they go on dates and he stops by to help Turner close the store. Miss Anita loves him. It’s adorable.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s happy.”
I could tell Mallory was looking at me even though I was busy studying my coffee lid.
“Hard to tell, with Turner,” she said. “I think he carries a lot of …”
“Sadness,” I said even though I hadn’t intended to. In truth, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to talk about Turner again without feeling a weight in my chest, like the one that had me drowning in a Massachusetts coffee shop. The sound of rushing water filled my head as I stared up at the stupid decorations.
I’d thought a lot about how it would be when I saw Turner at Christmas. But how on earth would I manage seeing him with Amir? My breathing got heavy, and Mallory placed her hand on top of mine.
“I’m not sure it’s sadness. I think he’s happy in Breakwater. He’s just not settled yet. Maybe it has to do with his parents, maybe it has to do with Anita and the shop.” She looked meaningfully at Brett. “I’m sure it doesn’t help that your dad is breathing down their neck about buying the place, like obsessively.”
She squeezed my hand, and I took the opportunity to change the topic of conversation. “Hey, you two work for the same evil company Dad does! How are things going at your hotel?”
Brett and Mallory started talking about work, and we managed to not discuss Turner or Turner and Amir for the rest of the trip home.
We usually saw Turner and Anita on Christmas Day. The year before, I had maturely escaped my house before they arrived, spending the afternoon with Austin instead, and I’d somehow managed to avoid him, for the most part, for months after that. Just like the year before.
