The Ex Files (Ocean View #1)(79)

Walking into the small coffee shop I love, I’m tackled by a little body before seeing a face I recognize.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, hugging Luke’s sister Quinn before kissing her daughter Bella on the cheek.

“We’re your next stop!” Bella calls, nearly jumping with excitement, the look on her face priceless.

“What does that even mean!?” I ask, so confused by what has happened in the past hour.

“That’s for you to find out. Here.” Gabi digs in her pocket and hands me a piece of paper.

“I promise I won’t make you spill this one, though I loved how that ended,” the note reads in that same, near illegible font.

“What is—” Bella shoves a lidded cup in my hand.

“Here you go, Auntie Cassie!” She started calling me that a few months ago, and I never had the heart to stop her, but the twinkle in Quinn’s eye…

“And a cannoli cupcake,” Quinn says, handing me over the confection. “From Luigi’s.” She smiles, and it’s sisterly and sweet and knowing.

“What the hell is—”

“No time for questions, Cassie. We have another stop to make.”





It turns out when she says that, she meant lots of stops. By five, we’ve been to Luke’s garage where I was given a soft pretzel and a fountain drink by Jeff, the owner, my tears welling with memories. Then we stopped by the best by-the-slice pizza shop, where we met up with Kerry and Tara’s daughter Jaime, eating and laughing before Cassie rushed us off.

After our lunch, we went to the small bookstore in town I could spend hours in, though I think Gabi might have had more fun than me there, followed by a stop at my favorite salon where I got a blowout, my hair perfectly coifed for… what?

Now we’re sitting at Tia Maria’s, eating chips and drinking margaritas with Tara, Quinn, and Jordan, who came down from Springbrook Hills, and it’s been the most magical day ever. I just can’t quite figure it out since there’s no way…

Gabi turns to me.

“One last stop, Cassie.” She’s smiling, beaming really, and the girls are smiling too. My lips turn up not because I know what on earth is happening but because it’s infectious, this joy and happiness and friendship. Joy and happiness and friendship I avoided for years.

“Okay?”

“Beach or lake?” Gabi asks, and my brows come together in confusion, trying to remember why that’s familiar.

“What?”

“Which do you prefer?” Beach or lake. The words come to me in a whisper, everything clicking, knowing, confirming what my heart was too nervous to guess.

“Beach.”

“Let’s go then,” Gabi says, standing up and nodding at the waitress, clearly understanding whatever is going on as we all get into our cars and drive to the boardwalk.





It’s cold like it was that night.

The wind coming off the ocean whips my hair around as I pull my coat closer to me and semi-regret not wearing tights under this dress. Again.

But there it is, big lights, the entrance facing the ocean. My heart pounds.

Tommy’s Tavern.

And on a white clapboard propped against the wall, “Tonight! Trivia Night!”

My breath hitches in my throat, a small sob dying to escape because I know now.

“Let’s go, Cassie,” Quinn says as both sisters press a hand to my back, pushing me towards the entrance. When we go in, my eyes go around the room, expecting tons of people like the first time. But instead, twenty or so come into my sight, all people I’ve let in since Luke changed my life. Jordan walks over to Tanner, sitting next to Ben, who smiles with a slight wave.

Chris shouts when he sees me, “She’s finally here!” and I can’t help but laugh. Kerry and Jack are here with Quinn and Tara’s husbands. So is my friend from the wedding, Jeff and some of the guys from the shop. All here. Everyone except…

“Okay, teams, we have one final question before the fun starts!” a voice says into a microphone, the sounds reverberating through the room. It’s the same MC from that night, smiling big, his eyes on me. “Are we ready?!” My friends all yell, excited, but I’m still looking around, looking for… “We have a special guest for this question, and only one of you can answer it.” More cheering and then he’s there.

Luke is standing in front of me, hands in his pockets. Those ever-present boots are on his feet, a huge smile on his face, directed at me. His hand goes out, grabbing mine. Those hands are so familiar to me now, every scar, every callus committed to memory.

“Cold,” he says, his words soft before both hands are on my left hand, warming it.

“It’s January.” Those are the only words that work.

“You have fun today?” He’s talking like I didn’t spend the day on some wild goose hunt, ending in the bar we spent our first night in, surrounded by family and friends. It’s like I just walked in the door of our apartment after a day at work and he’s saying hi, dinner ready and waiting.

“What’s going on?”

“You know what’s going on.” He says the words with surety, a smile on his lips, that damned dimple showing, and he’s not wrong. I know.