“I’m out. I’m going to go home to check up on Mason. Eli would probably kill me if I went to Clarke’s and left him at home,” she giggles. “Actually, make-up sex would be great.”
I sputter my wine, laughing. “Soon, you’ll have baby number two on the way.”
“No, no, no.” She lifts her hands. “Eli and I have a plan.”
“Because that worked out really well last time,” Poppy points out, causing Averly to glare at her.
Abbie and I laugh.
“Hell, let’s go to Clarke’s.” I finish my wine and stand. “Thank goodness we can walk there.”
“We’ll freeze our asses off,” Abbie comments. “But it will probably sober us up a bit.”
Averly’s phone buzzes as we all stand, and her eyes widen. “Oh. My. God. I’m going to kill him.”
“What happened?” We all ask in unison.
Averly turns her phone around to show us a picture of Eli at Clarke’s with Mason in a baby carrier.
“Is that… No way,” Poppy says.
“He took our baby to a bar!” Averly calls out.
“You have a baby…in a bar,” I say, imitating Sweet Home Alabama. “I’ve always wanted a reason to say that,” I chuckle.
“When you have a baby, I’m going to take him or her to a bar,” Averly points at me.
“It’s still early. Clarke’s is a restaurant, too,” Poppy says calmly. “It’s not like he’s at a strip club with a baby.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Averly mumbles.
“Okay, so out we go,” Poppy pushes us out the door. “We’ve got a baby to save from the guys.”
“And more wine to drink,” Abbie cheers. “Finn is so getting lucky tonight,” she waggles her eyebrows.
“Ugh,” Averly groans. “That’s still my brother, Abbie.”
We all laugh as we walk out of Poppy and Harris’s apartment and head toward Clarke’s.
I loop my arm in Abbie’s and walk with her, careful not to slide on the ice. The town is covered in snow, the blowing wind is chilly, and my ears are frozen and feel like they might fall off at any second, but I love this place.
Abbie tugs my arm, and I look at her with narrowed eyes. “You’ll meet someone great,” she whispers with a small smile. Leave it to my super sweet, shy best friend to make everything feel better with a few simple words.
“Yeah,” I sigh. I know I’ll one day meet a great guy, but I also know I need to stop comparing them all to my teenage love. It’s unrealistic. Life is different when you’re a teenager than when you’re an adult. I can’t expect the ease of my relationship with Easton to be found in an adult relationship.
She leans her head on my shoulder before looking up at the lit sign that reads Clarke’s.
“Go on and get your man,” I slap her butt, and she giggles.
Abbie walks in before me, heading straight to Finn. Never in a million years did I think those two would be tying the knot. Maybe I’m looking for love in all the wrong places.
All of our friends are at Clarke’s. It would’ve been a shame to stay in Poppy’s house and miss a Saturday night out with them.
“How’s Lia feeling?” I ask Ainsley, a friend of ours who is also Knox Bentley’s wife. Lia is her sister-in-law, married to Axel, Knox’s brother. They had their first child last month.
“Great. Lack of sleep, but they’re over the moon,” Ainsley smiles wide.
“And how are you?” I rub her swollen belly. “Awesome. Honestly, so far, it’s been a great pregnancy,” Ainsley says. “I know I still have two trimesters to go, but I can’t complain.”
“When do you find out the gender?”
“Next month! I can’t wait.” She shakes with excitement.
“You’ll have to tell us, or are you going to do a gender reveal?” I lift my eyebrows.
“I don’t know. We haven’t decided yet. I’m not big on those huge parties just to share if the baby is a boy or girl, but we might do something with our families.”
“I can’t wait to know.” I smile and grab the wine glass Abbie hands me.
“I do miss wine,” Ainsley sighs.
“But it’s totally worth it,” I add.
“Oh, yeah.” She nods.
I scan the bar, watching as my friends talk and cuddle with their partners. It sucks being the last single gal left. I wouldn’t be surprised if at any minute I’ll get a surprise invitation to participate in The Bachelorette. I wouldn’t put it past my friends to sign me up and leave it as a surprise.
Let’s hope not. I’ll be happy with a man who knows how to work with his hands, doesn’t speak with his mouth full, or pick his teeth. Is that so much to ask for?
I look out at the crowd before turning toward the conversation behind me, and I freeze. I’m stuck in place, my mouth dropping open on a small gasp and my hand squeezing the wine glass so hard, it’s threatening to crack.
I can’t believe this.
Easton
I’d be lying if I said buying back the ranch I grew up on had nothing to do with the woman staring at me like she saw a ghost from across the bar. I was not expecting to see her so soon. My beer bottle is halfway to my mouth, and I bet my eyes are as wide as hers.
She’s always been the one that got away.
I haven’t been back to Everton in thirteen years, and it’s been as long since I’ve seen the one woman I’ve never been able to forget. I wasn’t sure what it would be like to see her again. If I’d feel something for her like I thought I would. What our minds create versus our reality are two very different things, but in this case, I’m positive by the way my heart thumps my feelings for her are still there.
“Hey, man.” Camden, my best friend, taps my shoulder.
“Huh?” I turn to look at him.
“Who caught your eye?” He smiles with mischief. Camden and I have been friends since college, and he insisted on coming with me to Everton to see the infamous town I always talk about and why I’d give up my life in Virginia to return here.
It’s simple—I never meant to stay on the east coast for so long. My plan was always to return to the place that raised me, my true home, but life got in the way, and before I knew it, I was thirty-one years old and stuck in the corporate world.
“No one.” I look at him, turning my gaze away from Faith.
Faith. We were young, but I would’ve given everything to be with her. I may have been a seventeen-year-old punk back then, yet I’m sure I loved her. I never doubted that.
Now, we have years, unspoken words, and loss separating us. Even if I live in the same town.
“Who’s that?” I follow Camden’s line of vision to see who he’s talking about.
“I don’t know. It’s been years since I’ve been here. I only remember a few people.” I play it off when I realize he’s staring in Faith’s direction.
“Isn’t that Knox Bentley? The country singer?” Camden points toward the group of people with Faith, and I slam his arm down.