After All (Cape Harbor #1)(16)

“I will.” Bowie stood and joined the girls, encouraging Austin to do the same. Brooklyn’s lower lip jutted out as she stared at her boyfriend. Her hand remained suspended in the air as her hips moved to the music, but Austin wouldn’t comply.

“You’re such a jerk, Austin,” Monroe yelled out. She took Brooklyn’s hand and spun her in a circle. Still, Brooklyn wasn’t giving up on Austin.

He never relented.

Monroe came toward Brooklyn with open arms. They hugged, even though Brooklyn felt completely out of place. She didn’t deserve the fact that Monroe was being so nice to her after she had left all those years ago without warning or provocation. She’d deserted her friends in their time of need. They had lost their friend, the man they had all grown up with. When she should’ve consoled them, they were consoling her, and the guilt was too much to bear.

“What are you doing here?” Monroe asked.

“I’m here for the summer, visiting Carly.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. She could’ve been passing through; she could’ve been doing anything other than what she said. But it was too late. She could tell by the expression on Monroe’s face her words had done damage. Brooklyn, who’d cut ties after Austin died, hadn’t, in fact, cut ties at all.

Still, Monroe feigned a smile. Something Brooklyn knew she could do all too well. Ironically, the years of accepting that her younger sister was the favorite, even among the community, had made Roe one of the best actresses the area had ever seen.

“That’s right—with Austin’s memorial service coming up, of course you’d come home.” Monroe reached out and squeezed Brooklyn’s hand . . . a sharp jab right to the heart. That one stung. She hadn’t been a good grieving girlfriend, at least not to the local people or their friends.

Brooklyn inhaled deeply, finding some inner strength to let the comment roll off her. She deserved it. “I’m not sure if Carly is up for attending.”

“But you’ll be there, right? It’s such a wonderful way to remember Austin. The town does a fireworks display, but you probably know that since Carly pays for it. There’s a reading on the pier, and sometimes people get up there and tell stories about Austin. As time passes, though, more and more of our friends don’t come back or they can’t get the time off from work. We’re all so spread out around the country now with our careers. But for those of us that do come back or are still here, we always meet on the beach for a bonfire. You should come—bring Mrs. Woods if she’s up for it. I’ve tried a few times over the years to reach her, but she’s never taken visitors. It’s nice to know you’ve been speaking with her and that she’s okay. I miss her as much as I miss you. I know everyone would love to see you.”

She expected that to be a lie. She knew one person who could go their whole life without ever seeing her again, and she felt the same way. As nice as it sounded, she would have to memorialize Austin in her own way, with his mother, watching from afar. Too much time had passed, and Brooklyn’s excuse for giving up on everyone was, at best, weak and selfish. She hadn’t counted on needing to explain her absence, nor had she wanted to.

“How are you? How’s Mila?” Brooklyn asked. Now that she’d seen someone familiar, her emotions were all over the place. Aside from Austin, she missed Roe the most. There were many times when Brooklyn picked up the phone to call Monroe, to beg her to come to Seattle—or wherever she was at the time—to see her. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Mila’s . . . Mila,” Monroe said with a shrug and a long, exaggerated sigh.

Brooklyn felt like there was a story there, one that would take a few beers to coax out of her. Right then, it hit her like a ton of bricks that there was no way she could hide out until the renovation was complete.

“I’m teaching third grade at the school. What about you? Are you married? Kids?”

Brooklyn shook her head slowly. She wasn’t going to answer either question. “I travel a lot with my job. I don’t really have time to date.”

“What do you do?”

“Design work, mostly. Home renovations.”

“Oh, just like on TV. Maybe you’ll get your own show someday.”

Brooklyn loved Monroe’s enthusiasm and her ability to look past the obvious elephant in the room.

“Look, here’s my number. I have to get back to work. I’m helping proctor some exams at the high school today.” Monroe handed her a slip of paper. “I’d love to see you before you leave.”

Brooklyn smiled but offered no response. Monroe gave a little wave and grin before leaving her standing in the aisle where she had found her. She sighed and turned her attention toward the shopping list, trying to remember where she was before a small sliver of the past came back to haunt her. Unwilling to go through that again, she slipped her sunglasses back on and pulled her hat down even lower, hoping that she could get out of the store and back to the inn before she ran into anyone else.





SIX

Bowie thought about slamming his head against the side of his rig to knock some sense into his brain. Today had been one of those days where nothing was going right, but everything had seemed to fall in place, exactly where he needed his life to be. Putting his ex-wife issues aside, he needed the Driftwood Inn job. As much as he didn’t want to tell himself it was about the money, it was. He needed it. His crew needed it. Reaching inside the cab of his truck, he picked up the clipboard and patted Luke on the head before tucking tail and walking back toward the carriage house. He knocked once before the door swung open and Carly smiled at him.