Me: Let’s try the pizza place. I haven’t been there yet.
Holly: It’s good! See you soon!
Since Rowan had rescued me, I'd run into him four times. And every time, my hormones fired off like a pinball machine. Twice, he tried to talk to me, and twice, I'd managed to gracefully exit the situation.
The university had emailed last week, telling me they were still holding the position for me, but they would open it up again if I didn’t commit soon. I didn't want to go back to North Carolina. I'd missed home, and I was feeling stubborn about Rowan. I wasn't going to let him show up in my hometown and take over. This was my hometown. I sat down at my desk and pulled out my laptop, quickly pasting in the acceptance I'd written.
This was a tenure track position in the environmental sciences program, and I didn't want to pass it up. My parents were here, I had a house, and this was my town and my friends. I would just have to deal with Rowan, and my hormones would get a clue. I ignored the tiny voice pointing out that maybe Rowan was a massive reminder of the night I’d prefer to forget, but none of it was his fault.
My breath misted in the air as I hurried across the parking lot, pushing through the door into Alpenglow Pizza. The restaurant had been here for a few years, but it was new to me. It was on the outer end of Main Street near the hospital. I did want to try the new pizza, but I’d also wanted to limit my chances of encountering Rowan. During the winter months, Wildlands was a favorite hangout for locals. Since I came back to town, I’d been there a few times, and I’d already encountered Rowan there twice.
I paused and glanced around the restaurant. Booths lined the walls, and a counter at the back had a wood-fired oven visible behind it. It smelled delicious in here.
Holly waved at me from a booth in the corner. I waved as I crossed over to her. Before I could get a word out, Holly stood and pulled me into a quick hug. Her brown eyes twinkled as she stepped back and gave my shoulders a squeeze. “It's so good to see you again!”
“You too.”
We sat down across from each other, and Holly brushed her blond hair off her shoulders before lifting a glass of water and taking a swallow. As she set her glass down, she pointed at the one beside my elbow. “I ordered water for you, but I didn’t know if you wanted anything else to drink.”
“Water will do.”
“What do you want to get? Everything is good. I was thinking we should split a pizza.” She leaned her elbows on the table and turned the opened menu around for me to read it.
“What do you like? Pepperoni still your favorite?” I asked.
Holly’s smile was wide. “Hell, yes.”
“Let's just get a whole pepperoni then.”
“Deal.”
I closed the menu and slipped my arms out of my jacket. Holly and I had been pretty close in high school, but it felt like her life had leapfrogged ahead of mine. She was married and pregnant. The server appeared, and we ordered.
As soon as she was gone, Holly leaned back. “So tell me everything.”
“Everything? I don't have a ton of news,” I replied with a light laugh.
“Have you decided if you're staying?”
“Yes. I have a house and a good job. It was kind of hard to say no.” I kicked Rowan out of my thoughts. “Tell me how you're doing. You probably have more going on than me.”
Holly's lips curled in a smile. “Maybe, maybe not. I never left Willow Brook. I took the promotion at the hospital, so I'm the supervisor for the nursing department in the ER. Nate and I are married, but you know that.”
“And pretty soon, you’ll be a mama,” I teased lightly with a glance at her round belly.
Holly's cheeks went a little pink. “Not soon enough. Pregnancy makes me tired.” She rubbed her hand on her lower back for a moment.
“I love that you and Nate are together.” I meant it. They were a great couple and had found their way to each other. Finally.
“Sometimes, I still can't believe it.”
“When are you due?”
My friend eyed the round curve of her belly. When her eyes lifted to mine, she sighed. “Not until after the holidays.”
Our conversation paused when our pizza arrived. I picked up the thread after we had both started eating. “What do you mean you can't believe it? I always thought Nate had a thing for you. I told you that in high school. With Nate being Alex’s best friend, you two were thrown together a lot. It was kind of obvious.”
“I guess to everybody but me,” she said dryly.
“Well, I'm glad you're doing well together.”
“Nate's picking me up because I caught a ride here from a friend at work since I didn’t drive in this morning. Have you seen him since you've been back?”
I shook my head. “I've been busy cleaning the house and driving to Anchorage to look for new furniture. I cannot deal with the seventies look. I loved Gram, but wow.”
Holly let out a peal of laughter just as a rush of cold air came in when someone entered. I reflexively glanced over. The second I saw Rowan, my pulse behaved as if a shot had gone off at the start of a race, bolting out of the gate as fast as it could go. His eyes locked on mine immediately. Sparks ran scattershot through me.
“Well,” Holly said before clearing her throat.
I tore my eyes from Rowan's, heat flashing in my cheeks when I looked back at her.
“Well,” she repeated.
“Well, what?” I prompted.
“How do you know Rowan?”
I pressed my lips together and let out a sharp sigh. “I knew him in college, if you can believe it. I don't know what the hell he's doing here.”
Holly opened her mouth, but I held a hand up. “I know why he's here. That was more of a rhetorical question,” I added, irritation pricking at me.
Holly laughed softly. “Okay, so what is the problem with Rowan? Obviously, you have feelings.”
Oh, I had feelings, all right. It’s just the situation was complicated by an ugly event Rowan didn’t even know about.
“We were in college together, and he was one of my closest friends. I kind of had a crush on him, and we went on a few dates. Sort of.”
“Sort of? I need more info.” Holly took a bite of her pizza, chewing as she waited.
“We had just started dating and then that roommate—remember the one who got on my nerves because every guy was like a challenge to her?”
Holly nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“She flirted with him one night, and I took off.” There was so much more to the story, but I wasn’t about to go into it here. That might set me off to falling apart, and I couldn’t handle that. Not now.
“Did he hook up with her?” my friend pressed, her slice of pizza hovering in the air as she looked over at me.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
Holly set her pizza down, her nose scrunching as she eyed me. “Okay, was he a dumbass or not?”
My throat ached, and a familiar panicky feeling tightened in my chest. “Look, that’s not all of it. I bolted, and then my night went to hell, and I just couldn’t deal with facing Rowan after that. He didn’t do anything directly. It’s just he’s the reminder of something really awful.”