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“Come on. Great-Grandma was always messing with people’s relationships.” She picks up a pillow and positions it on her lap.
“I don’t know how Great-Grandma Dori could do that from the grave, Brin.”
She throws the pillow at me. “No, I mean, like, maybe she left directions. You know what she told me when Sawyer and I got married?”
“What?” I sit on the edge of my bed because any time Sawyer’s name comes up, I give Brinley one hundred percent of my attention.
“If she’d known I was going to settle down earlier, she would have put me first, but she figured it would be you and Rylan. I didn’t really know what she meant at the time, but now maybe I do.”
I sit there. What she’s suggesting is ridiculous.
“Did you sleep with him?”
“No!” I screech. “I have some self-control.”
“Really? Because I happen to remember a few times…”
I throw the pillow back at her and she laughs, hugging it to herself. “Where were you then?”
Shit. I never thought about having to explain to Brinley about where I’ve been spending the night since she wasn’t around but this is Lake Starlight, of course she knows I wasn’t here. “My parents. I needed to borrow my mom’s computer. Something is wonky with mine.”
Please forgive me for lying, I say to myself, hoping the heavens will hear me.
“Oh.” She frowns as though she’s disappointed I wasn’t boning Rylan.
“Yeah, I’ll be back and forth between our place and there until I’m done with the slideshow.”
“Let me help you guys. I have nothing better to do.”
“You really want to look at Aubrey and Declan’s life through the years, Brin?” It probably comes out harsher than I intend, but I know it won’t be good for her.
Her smile dims, and she stands. “How am I ever supposed to get over him if everyone handles me with kid gloves?”
I follow her into her room. “You know what? That was stupid of me. Come, we’ll make it a girls’ night. Wine and desserts.”
“No. You’re right. I’m already worried about their wedding.”
Guilt makes my stomach turn because Brinley is the one who could use that cabin, not me. Twenty-four and a widow. She needs the solitude to grieve her husband’s unexpected death.
“Want to go get lunch though?” she asks.
“With you, always. Let me just shower.”
She smiles. I figure my showering and getting myself together will give her some time to have a good cry in private, since I know our conversation has probably led her in that direction.
After Sawyer died, she tried to live in their house, but ultimately moved back in with her parents before she ended up here.
With downtown packed, we end up grabbing food from Lard Have Mercy and sitting in the square to eat it. It’s chilly, but not too bad.
“Did you know that my dad proposed to my mom during Art in the Park?” Brinley says. My gaze strays to the artists’ area of the fall fair.
“I didn’t. How romantic.”
“It’s crazy how romantic he is with my mom. Was Rylan like that with you?”
God, I don’t really want to go there. The memories are accompanied by a feeling of loss, but if this is the conversation she needs to have right now, I’ll have it.
“Yeah, he would always make a big deal of my birthday. He’d decorate the entire condo and make me breakfast. Reserve a table at some fancy restaurant and send me flowers, then he’d always buy me two gifts, one lingerie set he always said was more for him than me and something I’d asked for.”
