Love Next Door (Lakeside 1)

“I was afraid of this,” I admit, motioning between us.

“What is this, exactly?” Allie’s eyes shift away, focusing on some point in the distance.

“Knowing that I hurt you both when I left and didn’t come back. I wanted to start over, but I did miss you both so much.”

“So why ghost us, then? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Not to you, but to me it did. I was afraid if I held on to the people who made this place bearable, then I’d never be able to stay away. I didn’t want to get sucked back in. I didn’t want to end up stuck here.”

Allie huffs. “Is it really so bad here?”

“No. Yes. To eighteen-year-old me, it was. I needed to leave. And I felt like the only way to do that was to cut ties to this place. But looking back, I know it was wrong. And here I am, back in Pearl Lake.”

“I thought it was something we’d done, or that you were embarrassed because we’re too country and you became all citified.”

“Oh my God, no, Allie. I missed the hell out of you two. It was everything else I was trying to get away from that was the problem. I’m sorry if I made you think it was you.”

She pulls me in for a hug. “You’re forgiven. As long as you don’t ghost us for another decade again.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

She releases me and steps back. This time her smile is real. “It’s good to have you home, Dee. We missed having you around; the Terror Trifecta isn’t as effective with just the two of us.”

“It’s really good to be here.” And I genuinely mean it. The good outweighs the bad.

CHAPTER 12

CONNECTED DOTS

Dillion

The three of us sit on one of the big rocks near the water—they’re as uncomfortable as I remember—observing the party from the sidelines, just like old times. Half hall monitor, half voyeur. I scan the beach, looking for my brother. I find him close to the campfire, laughing boisterously with a group of guys.

“How bad are the bathrooms?” Tawny asks.

“Bad.” Allie grimaces. “I used the bushes. It blows my mind how gross girls can be when they’re trying to hover pee. And they ran out of toilet paper already, so these will have to do.” Allie pulls out a wad of napkins pilfered from the diner and passes us each a small handful, which we tuck into our purses.

“Fair warning: I saw Tucker hanging out by the keg on my way back over here.”

“Is Sue with him?” Tawny asks.

Allie arches a brow. “What do you think?”

“She’s probably stuck at home with the baby, while he goes out, gets wasted, and hits on whoever.”

I make a disgusted sound. “Baby? I didn’t know they had a baby.” It makes what he said about me ending up under him that much worse.

Allie looks to Tawny. “How old is the baby now? Maybe a couple of months?”

“Good grief. What a dog. He hasn’t changed, has he?”

“Nope. Just a heads-up that word got back to Sue that you were talking with him downtown, and that new guy who’s living at Bee’s showed up and they got into it.”

“Of course.” I roll my eyes. “I can’t say I miss the small-town gossip. And Van didn’t get into it with Tucker.” At least not while I was there.

“Maybe they did after you left? Anyway, apparently Sue lost her shit over it, and Tucker had to sleep in his car that night,” Tawny says with a sigh.

“Wow. Tucker’s made a real mess of things, hasn’t he?”

“I sort of feel bad for Sue. I mean, I know she always had her eye on him, even when the two of you were together and solid, but he’s way worse now than he was when he was with you.” Allie gives me a sympathetic look.

“I put up with more than I should have, and it sounds like she does too.”

“At least you smartened up and got the heck out of Dodge when you had the chance. Made a clean break and all that,” Tawny offers.

“As much as it sucked when you left, I’m glad it’s not you in Sue’s position. No one should be that miserable,” Allie adds.

“Well, let’s be real, she’s probably not hanging out with the baby on her own.” Tawny glances around before she leans in closer and drops her voice. “I heard she’s been taking her car to the garage the next town over lately—Carter’s Car Repairs. You remember that place, right? Run by old man Carter?”

Allie and I both nod and mm-hmm.

“Well, apparently his son took over. Used to be the star quarterback for our rival high school team. All golden hair and blue eyes and a seriously pretty face. You remember him, right? Sterling Carter?”

“He was the only reason I bothered with the pep rallies, since our team sucked the big one,” Allie mutters.