AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Patrick grinned at me and Austin. “The guys will tell you. She’s this bartender at West Table. We met when I was there for a business dinner.”
“A girlfriend?” Sutton asked when it was clear that Morgan couldn’t.
“Uh,” Patrick said nervously. “I mean…you know I don’t do labels and shit.”
“There are children,” I reminded him, watching this train wreck crash through the party.
“Right. Sorry, dude. Oh, here she is.” Patrick plastered on a smile as the tall brunette from Friday night sauntered into Jensen’s backyard in cutoff jean shorts, a white shirt that showed off her stomach, and cowboy boots.
Morgan went pale as a ghost as Mindi approached and waved at us.
“Hey, y’all!” she cried. “Austin. Landon.”
We nodded our heads at her and said, “Hey.”
Patrick introduced her to the girls, and I zoned out of the conversation.
Having my family all together in one place was the best. We were a close-knit group, and even though we all had skeletons in our closets, it never stopped us from loving each other. This was where it all just felt right.
But that didn’t keep me from searching out Heidi. She and Julia had just returned from wherever they had been stashed away. Heidi looked ashen, and her eyes skirted the party. She frowned when she saw our group all piled together.
And, even as Julia hurried over to hug Emery, Heidi stayed in place. She seemed frozen. Heidi wasn’t normally an outsider. She was usually a full-loving, center-of-attention kind of girl. She smiled brighter than the sun and laughed with abandon. Her personality was a big joke, and she reveled in being unique and outrageous. I adored all of these things about her.
Yet, right now, right at this very moment, she was not that girl.
Something was wrong. And I didn’t think it was me that was causing her this stress. Maybe Julia had said something, but the Heidi I knew would brush off her stresses and put on a brave face. This Heidi couldn’t seem to manage it.
Without a backward glance, I walked away from my family and left them to Patrick’s antics. My feet carried me across the backyard to where she was standing alone.
“Hey, wallflower,” I said. “What are you doing all alone?”
“Oh, hey,” she said, glancing away from me before her eyes darted back. “I didn’t realize I was making a spectacle of myself.”
“I don’t think you are. I think I’m the only one who noticed.”
She bit her lip and seemed unsure if she liked that I had noted her discomfort. “Well, thanks. I’m fine.”
“Heidi Martin is not the kind of girl who is ever just fine.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“You usually take over the world in a group. Your personality cannot be contained. But you don’t seem happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Liar.”
She laughed humorlessly. “Well, I’m happy for Emery. I’m happy that she has her whole family here and her whole humongous new family here. Your family. I’m so happy that there’s so much love around her. She deserves that.”
“And you don’t?” I asked.
“I wasn’t talking about me.” She tucked her fair hair behind an ear and turned her head away from me.
“Weren’t you?”
“It’s silly. Forget about it.”
“It’s not silly if you’re upset. Talk to me, Heidi,” I encouraged her. “If we have anything at all, it’s that we can talk to each other. You know that I’m here. That I’ll listen.”
