AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reread Jonah’s text at the clinic. My heart hurt, and I wanted to cry. I didn’t know exactly what happened to him this morning, but something had happened between his nightmare the night before and his reaction when he realized who was on the phone with me. I wanted to beat down his door and demand he explain, but I knew that wouldn’t work.
“Hey, want to come with me tonight?” Tiffany asked, breaking into my train of thought.
“Where?” I asked.
“Card night.”
“Uh, sure,” I said. “Can I bring Honey?”
“Of course. Let’s just go from here. You can feed her here. Conveniently, we have plenty of dog food,” she teased. She paused before she turned away, her eyes coasting over my face. “Are you okay?”
Of course, she had to go and pick up on the fact that I was upset. I simply told her the truth because I knew Tiffany well enough to know she’d drag it out of me if I didn’t. “Jonah was weird this morning. I guess his parents are returning to Seattle for the week, so he’s going back to the cabin for the week.”
She studied me quietly for a few beats before pushing from the doorway and wrapping me in a quick hug. She stepped back, resting her hands on my shoulders and squeezing firmly as she looked into my eyes. “It will be okay.” She nodded in emphasis.
“You sure about that?”
“Of course, I am,” she said. “Jonah will come around.”
“You say that as if you know all of his secrets.”
Tiffany’s hands fell away from my shoulders, and she rested one on her hip. “Well, I definitely don’t know all his secrets. I know he was in a school shooting, which has to leave an impact.”
I sighed. “Of course. I only wish I understood what’s happening now.”
ChapterThirty-Six
Alice
I glanced around the table, marveling a little at everyone here. Having been back home for a while now, I’d seen almost everyone here in passing, but it was strange to be together with them. They had announced this was a no-kids night after we arrived. Beck, who I had known in high school as the biggest flirt in Willow Brook and potentially in the world, had appeared to cart off not one, not two, but three toddler-age kids. He was a family man through and through.
Maisie, his wife, smiled over at me as she shuffled the cards. “Do you have a preference for what game we play?”
I shrugged. “Not at all. Are we really playing cards?”
Amelia grinned. “Don’t forget: Maisie will win.”
“Oh right. This is where we all lose a little money,” I teased.
“We don’t bet more than five dollars,” Maisie offered with a wink.
Holly waggled her eyebrows as she looked over at me. “Maisie usually wins, or Lucy, or me. Are you up for beating one of us tonight?”
“Just consider that you have five extra dollars to win because I’m here,” I offered.
We got started playing, and the conversation flowed easily. I promptly learned that if I wanted to get caught up on the gossip around town, I needed to come to card night with these women. We were all within a few years of each other in high school, and some I knew better than others.
Maisie had won two rounds when I glanced around the table, commenting, “It’s really good to be home.”
Maisie glanced up, her warm brown eyes twinkling as she smiled at me. “Willow Brook is the only place I’ve ever felt at home.”
Phoebe, who happened to be seated to one side of me, curled her arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “And it’s good for you to be home.”
Madison caught my eye, offering, “I’ve fallen in love with Willow Brook. I don’t know that I could’ve appreciated it when I was growing up, but I love how people take care of each other here.”
“They do,” I agreed.
Someone got up to refill the plates of appetizers. Tiffany nudged me on the side where she was seated. “Don’t forget you can have as much wine as you want.”
