She made her way through the small crowd, apologizing for bumping into people as she walked by them. The table where Austin sat was full, but that didn’t stop him from giving up his chair for her.
“Where will you sit?” she asked after setting her tray down.
“Next to you.”
Again, she felt her heart race, gallop, and skip. It was doing so many different palpitations she couldn’t pinpoint just one.
“Brooklyn, these are my best friends, Bowie Holmes, Grady and Graham Chamberlain.” He pointed to the two guys sitting across from her. “And that’s Jason Randolph and Monroe and Mila Whitfield. Roe and Mila are sisters, and I’m pretty sure you figured out Grady and Graham are twins.” Brooklyn glanced at Austin, who adjusted his baseball cap. She had, in fact, realized they were twins. It was really obvious, but she didn’t want to call Austin out and embarrass him. Plus, she’d already met the girl he called Roe. The guys mumbled some sort of hello, and Roe pointed out that they had English together. Mila smiled, sort of, and offered a small wave.
“Where are you from?” Jason asked.
“Seattle.”
“Why would you move here from Seattle?” Mila asked. There was a bit of snark in her voice, something that surprised Brooklyn. So far, everyone had been pleasant to her, but Mila seemed put off by her presence.
Brooklyn had been asked this question multiple times already and was wondering if there was something wrong with the town. She found the town to be cute, a little quiet, and completely opposite of what she was used to, which her mother loved.
“My dad is the town doctor,” she said.
“I’m going to be a doctor,” Jason added. “The University of Washington is where I’m headed.”
“It’s a really great school.”
“Go, Huskies!” everyone except for Brooklyn and Mila said loudly. Brooklyn caught Mila staring. For the most part, she felt as if she fit in with everyone here, especially at this table, but Mila had a different vibe. She wondered if Mila had a crush on Austin and thought maybe she should find out before her own crush turned into something more. The last thing she wanted to do was come between a close-knit group of friends.
The rest of her day went as well as her morning. Each time she’d stop back at her locker to put her textbook away, Austin was there. They ended up having three classes together, one of them being physical education, where they partnered.
Once the final bell rang, Austin led Brooklyn through the parking lot and to his truck. He took her bag and set it into the cab and held out his hand for her to use as leverage to climb in. “It’s okay,” he said when she looked at him questioningly. “I’ll never let go.”
Brooklyn wiped the tears from her face as she sat at the top of the cliff overlooking the sound. She held her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. Being back here brought on a barrage of emotions she wasn’t ready to face. Everywhere she went, Austin was there, reminding her of the love they once shared. He had been her best friend, her constant companion, her first love. He had been her everything until they were both left brokenhearted.
“Did you let go, Austin?” she asked, directing her words toward the ocean. He was out there, somewhere, doing what he loved best.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket, smiling down at the screen. After sliding her finger over the screen, she rested the phone against her ear. “Hey,” she said.
“Are you there?”
“I am.”
“And? You know I’m dying for all the details.”
Brooklyn sighed and dropped her head. “Carly closed the inn,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I’ve been so determined to stay away from here that I had no idea. I should’ve peppered Brystol with questions.”
“What she does isn’t your business, Brooklyn.”
“I know, Rennie, but I can’t help but think I had something to do with it. If I had stayed and raised Brystol here—”
“Stop,” her best friend barked into the phone. “Just stop with the nonsense. You had to do what was best for you and your daughter. You couldn’t stay there, not with everything that had happened. You would’ve never escaped the stigma of being Austin Woods’s girlfriend.”
“I know,” Brooklyn said quietly.
“I can come up this weekend, if you want.”
“Don’t you have plans with Theo?”
“Meh, they can change. Besides, he’ll be in Seattle midweek; we can take a weekend off.”
Brooklyn stood and walked toward her car. Over the years she’d missed the Pacific Northwest, its beauty and everything it offered. She could ski in the morning and be at a beach by sunset, enjoying the best of both worlds.
“I may take you up on your offer, Rennie. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep everything bottled in.”