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Choices.
Choices define everything. Our past, our present, and our future.
We’re faced with many different choices along the way. Some much more significant than others. There are the small choices, the ones that are so inconsequential we’ve already forgotten them once they have been made.
Then there are the big choices. The ones that have the power to change everything.
Sometimes the path is clear. Other times it’s clouded with doubt and uncertainty. And some of those choices affect us much more than we ever realized they would.
I’m living proof of that.
Six months ago I did the unthinkable. I quit my job of ten years, packed everything I could fit into one suitcase, and moved to the other side of the country to be with a man I barely knew.
I wish I could say it was a tough decision, and maybe at first it was, but as I boarded that plane, leaving my entire life behind, I felt no uncertainty. No unease. No regrets. I knew it was what I needed to do. And it turned out to be the best decision I ever made.
Sometimes life puts you exactly where you need to be when you need to be there. You just have to be brave enough to not let the moment pass you by.
Six months earlier…
Everything is perfection. Of course it is. I would expect nothing less from a couple like Blue and Harris. Their love story may have started off a little rockier than most, but it has blossomed into something I don’t think either one of them ever saw coming. For a woman who once claimed to hate love, she sure has come full circle. And as her best friend, I couldn’t be happier for her.
“Hannah.” I turn toward the sound of a man’s voice, a smile tugging up the corners of my mouth when I see Everett, Harris’ brother, step up next to me.
He looks incredibly handsome in his black suit, complete with red and blue boutonniere. His hazel eyes pop against the color of the button-down shirt peeking out from beneath his jacket. Full lips, defined cheek bones, and the small dimple in his chin work together to define his beauty. His brown hair is a little longer than it was the last time I saw him, but he’s still every bit as handsome as I remember. Maybe more so. The thought causes a small ache to form in my chest.
If only he didn’t live on the complete opposite side of the country…
It’s the same thought I had the last time we stood together in the same room. It’s been nearly five months since our first meeting. Everett was in town visiting his brother, Harris, who’d set up a double date in hopes of making Blue more comfortable meeting his brother for the first time.
I don’t think Harris expected for us to hit it off as well as we did when he invited me to act as his buffer. Neither Everett nor I could deny the instant attraction we felt toward one another, but knowing our circumstances, we were both reluctant to act on it. While we initially texted for a couple of weeks after that night, eventually he stopped, and so did I.
“You look beautiful.” His eyes do a full sweep of the red, floor length gown Blue picked out for me. Blue and Harris have a thing for reds and blues, which, to no one’s surprise, ended up being the color scheme for their wedding. And while the dress is gorgeous, I feel like it kind of clashes with my auburn hair, which is why I opted to have it pinned up in a fancy updo instead of leaving it down the way I had originally planned.
“Thank you.” I swallow, feeling suddenly nervous. “Blue will be glad to hear you made it. When did you get in?”
I had expected to see him last night at the rehearsal dinner but apparently he had been held up and wasn’t able to catch his initial flight. I know Blue was worried he wouldn’t make it at all. Being a Staff Sergeant in the Army, his schedule is less than flexible and it’s not like he had much notice regarding the nuptials. Like most things with Blue and Harris’ relationship, the wedding came together in only a few short weeks, rather than the months or even years it takes most couples to plan their union.
“About two hours ago.” His broad shoulders
rise as he takes a deep inhale, his lips parting as he slowly blows it out.
“You really pushed it down to the wire.”
“I had some last-minute things to take care of.” His hazel eyes slide to mine and my heart instantly kicks up a notch.
Everett Avery is beyond gorgeous. He’s the kind of man whose mere presence is enough to make you feel off kilter and on edge.
“Everything okay?” I ask, though I don’t expect him to tell me any details about his life. We hung out… once. It’s not like we’re friends.
“It is now.” He smiles and the action causes the butterflies lying dormant in my stomach to stir awake.
It’s the same effect he had on me the night I first met him. I spent the entire evening wishing our circumstances were different. Wishing he didn’t live in Hawaii. Wishing my life wasn’t here in Boston. Wishing either of us had a real choice in the matter.
Everett is the first man in a very long time to make me feel even remotely excited. After a slew of dead-end relationships and trying to force myself to feel things that weren’t there, being with him was like being brought back to life. At least until he left.
I had hoped that something would come of the crazy chemistry we seemed to share, but alas, Everett quickly joined the ranks of relationships that never made it past the first date. It surprises me how disappointed I still feel about this.