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“Haley!” someone called, and I turned to find Nora walking our way.
Her hair was in tight spiral curls today, and she wore a cute Mount Macon tank top and jeans. She must have gotten that from Davis’s shop. They had anticipated it being a tourist stop, but from what I gathered the locals were enjoying it, too.
“Hey!” I said, appreciating it when she bent down to hug each girl.
“Let’s go find Rae and get some food.”
“This is crazy,” I mused as Nora took Seraph’s hand in hers and we walked through the throng of people. My anxiety flared the smallest bit. I didn’t like being so unfamiliar with everyone, especially with being with the girls without Liam. I had gotten used to him being back and didn’t like reverting to how it felt when he was gone.
Nora weaved through the masses seamlessly.
I continued to follow her until she found a mostly empty picnic table where Rae was sitting, tapping away on her cell phone.
She had her dark hair swept up into a high ponytail with a cute blue ribbon tied around it. Her eyes snapped up when we approached, and a huge smile speared her lips up.
“Haley! Yay, you have the girls.”
“We are here to party,” I said feeling awkward the second the words left my lips.
The girls settled in on the benches, and since it was lunch time, I knew I needed to go and grab them some food, but there were so many people around I didn’t to drag them through the line with me.
“Can we go jump for a while?” Maddy asked.
I looked over and realized all three girls were eyeing the bounce houses.
“How about I take them?” Colson appeared behind Nora from somewhere in the crowd. He wore a pair of designer glasses that made him look like a movie star.
“Uncle Cole!” Mila jumped up and she was in his arms within minutes, the other two holding on to him while they headed to the bounce house. I watched them go, strangely feeling like a part of me had exited my body.
“Okay, so you have to tell me why Jeffery Akers has asked about you like three times since we got here.” Nora leaned in close, pushing an iced drink in front of me.
Rae angled closer as well, whispering, “He keeps asking random people too. He awkwardly asked Colson like a billion times.”
Oh, Jeffery.
We’d essentially stopped texting after I had told him we weren’t going to hang out anymore. It wasn’t that Liam forced me into it, it’s just that deep down I knew Jeffery had feelings for me, and I didn’t want to lead him on. We had been friends in my head, but there were things I had ignored that he’d done while we were together. Like small brushes of his hand, or the way he touched the small of my back when we were in the store. The way he always had coffee for me. I put a stop to it, but he still occasionally texted. In fact, this event was one of the things he had texted me about, asking if I was attending.
Oh shit.
“You guys, I think I should go talk to him. I feel bad.” My eyes began searching the area for him, and I found him standing with a small group of guys that had worked at the Center. I thought I remembered them being a part of Cole’s construction crew.
“If the girls come back, will you have them stay here, and one of you stay with them until I’m back?”
They both smiled up at me and sipped their drink. “Of course we will.”
They were absolutely going to watch my interaction with Jeffery. I hadn’t even really had the chance to come out to them about my relationship with Liam. So I was sure they were confused and incredibly suspicious.
I held my drink, picking my way through the crowd, until I was closing in on his group. Jeffery looked handsome today, wearing a nice blue button-down with fresh denim and boots. His hair was obviously styled, and his face was clean-shaven. My gut sank, thinking he’d done that for me.
His eyes found me, and a smile lit up his face.
“Haley!” He stepped away from his group. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Hey Jeffery.” I lifted my cup in acknowledgment.
He led me away by my elbow, until we were alone away from the crowd.
“I’m glad you came; I didn’t think you would…I mean, you’ve kind of been ghosting me since Liam came back.”
