AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you,” I respond.
“You two weren’t dating at the time?”
“No. I’d started to develop some feelings, but we weren’t dating.”
“Why not?” Abigail flushes as soon as she asks the question. Actually looks embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s none of business.”
“No, it’s fine. I, uh—” I look outside, then back at the table. “I was worried. I didn’t want to fall in love with him. Our lives were so different. He wasCaleb Winters, this huge deal. I didn’t want to get hurt. To admit I cared just for him to leave and never look back.”
“That’s understandable,” Abigail says.
I nod. “It didn’t make a difference, though. Even knowing I could get hurt didn’t change how I felt. So I admitted it to him, still thinking we wouldn’t last. But he…”
“Looked back,” Abigail supplies.
“Yeah.” I smile. “He did. Has.”
“Here you ladies go.” The waiter returns, setting down two glasses filled with red liquid and garnished with celery and olives on the table, followed by a steaming plate of fries. “Anything else?”
“We’re all set, thanks,” Abigail replies.
Once the waiter is gone, she raises her drink and tilts it toward me. “Happy Thanksgiving, Lennon.”
Hastily, I pick up my glass. “Happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. Winters.”
She laughs. “Call me Abigail, please.”
I smile before sipping my drink. It’s good. Fresh and zesty, with a hint of spice. I can’t taste the alcohol at all.
“I took a journalism course my freshman year at Emory,” Abigail tells me as we dig into the fries.
“Really?”
She nods. “I decided pretty early on it wasn’t for me. I probably should have dropped it, but I was raised to believe that the worst thing you could be called is a quitter. So I stuck it out. Back then, I thought I’d have a few years on my own to try lots of things on for size. I met Austin, he proposed, and I knew I’d never have a career.”
“Did you want to?”
“I never thought about it. Richard was a rising political star; Caleb had just been born. It was easy to get swept up in being a Winters.”
“I’d imagine so,” I reply.
“You’ll find out soon.”
“Caleb and I are a long ways off from that,” I say quickly.
Abigail smiles. “Caleb and Austin don’t have much in common. Caleb’s grown up into twice the man Austin will ever be. But they’re both charming and persuasive. It might come sooner than you think.”
She laughs at my expression, then asks me another question about Clarkson. And shockingly, it feels…nice.
* * *
The bedroom door creaks open quietly. A few seconds later, the mattress dips. I roll over, blinking at Caleb.
Everyone was gone when Abigail and I returned to the chalet. Caleb was hanging out with Jake and Colt, the St. Jameses had headed into town, and Austin had a meeting.
I came upstairs and worked more on my essay for the Fulright Fellowship application. At some point, I fell asleep.
“Hey.”
