Rennie came back to where Graham was perched and placed a can of pop in the cup holder, then went back to where she had been sitting, practically on top of him . . . not that he was complaining. She rested her feet on the edge of the console and pulled the tab on her can of pop. She took a sip and then another, all while Graham studied her. She was acting as if last night hadn’t happened, as if she hadn’t texted him to drive to Canada to pick her up.
“You can ask me, ya know.”
“Ask you what?”
“About yesterday.”
“I figured if you wanted to tell me, you would. You know I don’t like to pry.”
She nodded and took another sip from the can. “I need something stronger.”
“We can go out tonight,” he suggested. “There’s a nice bar in town. They have decent food.”
“I want to get drunk enough to forget everything.”
“Everything?” he asked. Graham kept his hand on the steering wheel, even though he could’ve sat back and enjoyed the ride out to Friday Harbor. There wasn’t another boat in sight, and likely the only ones they’d come across were the ferries.
“The last year, especially yesterday.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” He sighed. Aside from the fact she had a boyfriend, he would never want to erase the past year, especially the past six months, or even the last few months. Brooklyn’s return was in that block of time, which meant it was Rennie’s return as well. As of late, he and Rennie were finally close again and growing closer each day. “What happened yesterday?”
Rennie cleared her throat. “The car ride started off awkward, and I think most of that was on me. Since Thanksgiving, things with Theo have been off. I’ve been off. I’ve been angry with him about his job, and then out of the blue, he suggests we move to Spokane because his company is there, and it would be easier for him. Never mind the fact that my family is on this side of the mountains.”
“Do you want to move there?” Her leaving the area was the last thing he wanted. When he found out she had been living in Seattle the whole time, he wanted to kick his ass for not staying in contact with her all these years. Deep down, he had a feeling Rennie would’ve pushed him away, though, because of Brooklyn and the secret she kept. Although, to be fair, Brooklyn had no idea Carly Woods hid Brystol (who everyone assumed was Austin’s daughter) from his friends.
“No, not at all. I’ve been there once and didn’t like it, and I couldn’t imagine not seeing Brooklyn and Brystol whenever I wanted. Now that they’re back in Cape Harbor, I’m where I want to be. These past six months have been some of the best I’ve had in a long time.”
“I know what you mean,” he muttered. He didn’t bother to look at her, even though he could feel her gaze upon him. He adjusted the wheel slightly, making sure the boat stayed the course toward the island.
“Anyway, as I said, I’ve been off, and my relationship suffered, and I told myself I needed to be better, if not for me, then for Theo. He works hard. We both do. And we’d been looking forward to the trip to Whistler for months. Except when we get there, the reservation for the hotel is under my name, and I didn’t make it. I found it odd and believed Theo when he said it must’ve changed when I made all my spa appointments.”
“Believable, I guess.” Graham hadn’t the foggiest idea about spa appointments or hotel reservations.
“Not really, but I’m there on vacation, and I’ve sworn to myself I’m not going to let the small stuff bother me. After we checked in, one of us—I don’t even remember who—said something about the disconnect between us. We were supposed to go to the room, to reconnect, but instead, he wanted to go to the bar, where he proceeded to drink four glasses of wine.” Rennie looked at Graham. “Four glasses, Graham. Four! He was fucking drunk within an hour of us arriving. I was so pissed and finally had enough. I signed the charge slip and took his sorry ass to our room.”
“And he passed out?”
Rennie adjusted in her seat. “Nope. As I was opening the door to our honeymoon suite, a couple—who, by the way, had given me a dirty look when we stepped out of the elevator—called his name. He introduced me as hotel staff.” She looked at Graham and waited.
“Okay . . . ,” he said as he met her gaze. She glared. He waited. He didn’t know what to say, because he saw Theo’s face being pummeled by his hand. He wanted to strangle the son of a bitch, revive him, and do it all over again. “I’m sorry, Ren.”