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“About four months or so? My parents bought the inn and then had bad luck with managers, so they asked me to come run things for a while.”
“Oh,” I said. “Part of my family is from here. So I moved out of the city and came here almost a year ago.” I shrugged.
Silence fell between us.
“Small world isn’t it?” she said.
“Seems like it,” I said. I couldn’t stop my eyes from following a bead of sweat that started from the hollow of her throat and slid right between her boobs and into her sports bra. Guess she did sweat after all.
“I guess I’ll see you around, then,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said, wishing I had something to do with my hands. My arms were just hanging there and it was weird.
Alivia checked her fitness watch and then gave me a quick smile before taking off again, leaving me in the dust.
I took a step on wobbly legs and headed in the opposite direction of my one-night stand.
* * *
“He will not show it to me,” Linley said as we were finishing up dinner with simple French vanilla cupcakes and marshmallow coconut frosting.
She was talking about her wedding cake topper, the one thing that Gray had insisted on being in charge of and keeping secret from Linley.
“It’s going to be amazing,” I said.
“Oh, I know it is. It’s just killing me not to be able to picture everything. I mean, the cake is my thing!” We had all tried to talk her out of making her own wedding cake but had been swiftly shut down. “How could I enjoy her wedding worrying about the cake being inferior?” she explained.
There was no arguing with that. She was the bride and it was pointless to fight her on this.
“Don’t stress. Everything’s going to be perfect,” I said, sipping my cup of jasmine tea.
“I know. Oh, I know. I’m getting myself all worked up,” she said, shaking herself a little as if to shake off the anxiety.
“Enough about me and my wedding. What’s going on with you?”
I shrugged one shoulder.
“Same old, same old. Home, bakery, friends. The usual,” I said.
Once Linley’s wedding was over in two months, then I’d tell her about Alivia. Just had to get through the wedding first.
“It’s good,” I said, in case she thought I was unhappy. I wasn’t, truly. “A lot better than last year, that’s for sure.”
I’d been an absolute fucking mess after my breakup. Honestly, I didn’t remember much about those first few weeks. They were lost in a haze of grief that blotted out all my memories. Maybe that was for the best. I still had my moments with it. Sometimes I’d see something that would remind me of my ex, or a picture would pop up somewhere, and I’d have a small breakdown for a few days. I kept waiting for those moments to go away, but I’d had one last week.
I’ve always been a pretty positive person, and I’d spent my energy trying to keep that up in public, but here with Linley and Gray, I’d been able to fall completely apart and they’d both taken care of me when I’d been at my lowest.
I’d always been closer with my aunt and uncle than my parents. When the breakup had happened, my first thought had been to come to Castleton, not to head to my parent’s in the more northern part of Maine. Besides, Castleton was on the ocean. My parents lived near a paper plant.
Martha and Mitch had immediately offered to let me stay with them, but then Linley had offered her spare room, and I’d felt so much relief. It was one less thing I’d had to worry about. When I’d come she’d just completely taken care of me. She and Gray made sure I ate and drank water and took regular showers. They didn’t ask me to talk but let me know that they were there if I wanted to. They didn’t mention all the times they’d definitely heard me crying myself to sleep. I’d gone for walks on the beach and eaten ice cream and drunk tea on the couch. All of it had been so healing, and I would be forever grateful.
“You look good,” Linley said. “Not that you ever looked bad. But you smile more.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I feel like smiling more.”
Deciding to be decadent, we busted out the clay masks and took turns painting each other toenails.
“Remember when we dyed your hair?” Linley asked. When we were kids, I’d often spend a week or several in Castleton with her, and we’d always gotten up to various shenanigans.
