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We sat in silence, and I couldn’t help but contemplate the fragility of love and the complexities that now entangled my own heart. The weight of secrets and unspoken desires threatened to suffocate our connection, leaving me to question whether Annie and I could ever find our way back to each other.
“How did you know, Dad? With Mom?”
Dad sat back, looking out onto the faux neighborhood walkway, and I hated the fact this was his home.
Dad shrugged his strong shoulder. “Same way you know about your girl, I guess.”
I turned to him, denial and deflection ready on my tongue, but I hesitated.
Dad’s cool blue eyes bore into me, challenging me to disagree. “I may not remember much, but I remember that girl. And how you’ve always looked at her. Since you were kids, you were chasing around those bright-red curls, pretending like it was something else.”
He scoffed like the only person I had been fooling was myself. I swallowed past the thick lump lodged in my throat.
“There’s going to be plenty of times it feels hard.” Dad leaned on his knees and looked into the black coffee. “You’ll mess up, or maybe she will. It’ll happen. But you gotta dig past the hurt. Go deep and remember how it feels when she looks at you like you’re the best man in the room, because to her, you are.”
My hand rubbed the tension building at the base of my skull. There was so much he didn’t understand, but his words clung to me. “Thanks, Dad.” I gave his knee a squeeze. “I’ll be around later in the week.”
Dad raised his cooled coffee in a silent salute, not realizing how his deep words burrowed into my chest.
Imagining a life without Annie felt wooden and hollow, despite the hurt and anger that still radiated in my chest.
Her steadfast heart had been an anchor, tethering me with friendship and family whenever life threatened to drown me. She had always found a way to see past the jokes and the one-night stands and the humor I used to deflect.
The reality that I didn’t know Annie nearly as well as I’d thought nearly buckled my knees as I walked out of Haven Pines.
THIRTY-ONE
ANNIE
Not beingabove some mild stalking, I had driven past his apartment, the fire station, even Kate and Beckett’s beach house. There was no sign of Lee.
I took a breath as I rolled through downtown and spotted his black truck. It was Friday night in Outtatowner, and I should have known Lee would be surrounding himself with friends and a few beers at the Grudge.
I took one last glance at myself in the mirror, satisfied with the subtly smoky eyeliner that enhanced my naturally blue eyes. I rarely wore more than just mascara, but if I was going to beg for forgiveness, I wanted to look damn good doing it.
In the height of tourist season, the Grudge was packed with people. Laughter, chattering voices, and music from the live band melded together to form the soundtrack of life in a coastal Michigan town.
My eyes moved over the King side to see Royal and Sylvie in a small group of their mutual friends.
Across the bar, a few Sullivan cousins and their friends dotted the west side. When I glanced across the dance floor, my eyes paused. The familiar outline of Lee’s strong shoulders stopped me.
Holding her at a respectable distance, Lee was with Mia Bradley, moving them around the dance floor. Despite years of seeing him dance with nearly every woman and tourist that came through this bar, I no longer had to stuff down the irrational feelings of jealousy. I knew him and I knew his heart. His hand didn’t curl around hers and brush lightly around her wrist. And his arm didn’t find the small of her back the way it always did mine.
In the back of the bar, Emma caught my eye and offered me a wave. I tipped up my chin and smiled at her, but turned and headed straight for the bar. The only open spot was between two tourists in board shorts and T-shirts, looking as though they had come straight from the beach.
I wedged myself in the opening between them as one turned toward me. “Well, hey there.”
I only gave him a tight smile as I signaled to the bartender.
“Orphan Annie. What’ll it be?” the bartender called over the demanding crowd.
I internally cringed at the nickname but plastered on a pretty smile. “I need a shot, something strong and something to chase it.”
His look of surprise was fleeting, but he nodded. “Coming up.”
I blew out a sigh of relief, and my shoulders sagged as I gathered my courage.
“Looking to cause some trouble tonight?” the surfer to my right asked with a smirk and tip of his eyebrow.
