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“How come you never told me?”
“You and I weren’t in touch back then. I was only here for a few weeks, and then it all happened, and … there was no point in talking about it after. No one knows, Bella. No one should know. Even if we tell everyone—”
“If?” Bella shifted her head to look at her. The wind blew a strand of hair into her face, and she pushed it back.
“When. When we tell everyone, we won’t mention that we were together back then. It will only make everything worse. They don’t need to know about it. They know we were friends in high school at some point, and that’s it. It’s enough. So, keep it to yourself.”
“I have news of my own,” Bella said. “I won’t be here to tell anyone.”
“What?”
“Dean got the role orders he wanted. It’s a long-term station in Michigan, and it comes with a house on base. We’ll be relocating soon.”
Anne stopped and covered her mouth. “Oh my God! Bella! I’m … happy for you, and sad for me?”
Bella laughed.
Anne hugged her. “Michigan! God, I’m gonna miss you. When?”
“In a few weeks. I just notified the school the other day, and they posted my position. Avery did, by the way. They already have resumes coming in.”
“Already? Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. I’m excited about having Dean at home, but nervous about the move. You can still use me as an alibi for Thanksgiving, though,” Bella said with a chuckle.
Anne had asked her before to say she’d spend the holiday with her so she could be excused from attending the festive dinner at her aunt’s. She and Finn planned on spending it together at his house. She had promised her parents that she’d join them for Thanksgiving Sunday lunch at Darian’s. She wasn’t looking forward to spending time with Avery and her parents now that she was with Finn, but she couldn’t deny her parents the entire holiday.
“Thanks,” Anne said. They stopped to stand next to each other, facing the ocean, their bare feet in the cold sand.
“Nothing beats this,” Bella said. “I’ll miss it.”
They threw their heads back and closed their eyes. The sunset and the breeze caressed their closed lids. It was chilly, but they were both well-wrapped in sweaters.
“It’s like nothing bad can exist if this happens daily.” Anne breathed the clear air. The sound of waves was the soundtrack of her childhood. She had missed it in the years she had been away.
“Do it here,” Bella said all of a sudden. They opened their eyes and looked at each other. “Bring your parents here to tell them. It’s like Prozac.” She gestured with her head toward the view.
“I might need to use the real thing, too. They think of Avery and Finn as the siblings I never had. They have always been so quick to adopt everyone—Libby, you, Finn, Noah’s wife. Noah and his family are coming over for Thanksgiving, and that’s all my parents can talk about. How can I—”
“Tell them that you and your cousin’s ex-husband are together? Just tell them. Let everyone blow steam now and be done by Christmas.”
“Sure, and by Christmas, we’ll all be a picture-perfect family.” She chuckled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A month of happiness, though clouded by the not-so-trivial fact that they were lying to the whole world, made her feel like she was walking on an actual cloud. Anne forced herself to crash into reality.
Two days before the holiday, while they were busy preparing the special orders at the back, she tried talking to her father again.
They stood at the two adjoined metal tables. He was icing the simpler cakes while she was finishing up a turkey-shaped one. “Who can even look at another turkey by dessert time?” she had asked when the order had come in a few days before.
She was cutting gum paste when she said, “Dad, what would you say if I told you that I’m in a new relationship and that—”
“Wait. Is that one of those would you rather games where I have to choose between two awful options?”
In a way. “No, it’s—”
“Because your mother has been bugging me with those ever since she discovered them in her Facebook groups.” Bert chuckled. His hand was so experienced with the icing that, even when he chuckled, it came out beautifully.
