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Aithan and Drew chuckled.
I didn’t know what to make of her and remarked, “You’re not what I expected.”
“You mean because I’m fluffy?” She said it with none of the emotional baggage I would’ve heaped on its back.
“Yeah, and—”
“Bubbly?” Drew offered.
“No, Hannah’s always been like that. I was thinking more along the lines ofnicerather than calling me a fat cunt.”
Hannah nodded. “I’m still a fucking glass of champagne, Zel.” But she sobered and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry I was such a little bitch when we were kids.”
“Oh, um, okay.” I couldn’t keep up with her. She changed thoughts faster than Drew, and that was saying something. I yanked my hand away. All this felt too fucking surreal.
“That’s been hanging over me for a long time. I was a really shitty friend.”
“Apparently, you weren’t the only one,” Aithan remarked, surprising me.
She nodded. “Mmm. Pretty much everyone we went to school with owes Zel an apology.” She squinted at me. “I heard you were dating Tristan Blaylock.”
“No,” Owen said. “That’s Greer.”
“Oh,” she replied and swigged her beer. “I was gonna ask how you juggle three guys.”
I shook my head. “Greer’s married. Iwasdating Tristan, but we split up.”
Owen looked confused, but that was par for the course with him. He’d never been a bright flame.
Hannah just saluted me with her beer. “I don’t know what you’ve got, but if you can bottle it, I’ll pay a shit-ton of money for it.”
“Katterman?” the host called, sparing me from falling further down the rabbit hole.
Aithan caught my hand and pulled me into the crowd.
“Bye, Zelda!” Hannah called.
“Right. Bye.” I grabbed Drew’s hand, bringing him with us. He saluted her with his Scotch ale as she added, “I’ll message you online!”
We lucked out with a table by the window and a view of Bellingham Bay. After the host left us, Drew started laughing.
“You look so freaked out, Brick.”
“I am.” I leaned forward. “That was fucking bizarre.”
Aithan sipped his beer and slowly shook his head. “Is small-town living always like this?”
“Worse,” Drew replied, and I nodded.
After the waiter took the guys’ orders and explained the meal that was being prepared for me, Wayde appeared at our table.
“Zelda Gordon, it’s been too long.” He leaned down to kiss my cheek then took the table’s fourth chair.
“Hi, Wayde.” I introduced him to Drew and Aithan.
Old enough to be my dad, he wore Hawaiian print shirts year-round and kept his silver hair buzzed. He’d retired to Bellingham from the merchant marines and promptly opened a string of eateries.
Drew said, “Thanks for accommodating our last-minute reservation. We didn’t know the place had gotten so popular.”
