These were my people. They knew me too well for me to hide anything significant. And I didn't want to hide this. Not anymore.
"Okay," I said, setting down my mug before I strangled it. "So there's something you should know."
The table went very still. Even the espresso machine seemed to quiet.
"I kind of... we kind of..." I took a breath, forced myself to meet Garrett's eyes. "Brent and I. We're seeing each other. Dating. I don't know what to call it exactly, but it's real."
Silence. Then Finn let out a low whistle. "Well. That's not what I expected."
"Jason Foster," Garrett said slowly, leaning back in his chair. "Dating a bestselling author."
"Brent," I corrected, probably too quickly. "And yes. It just... happened. We were roommates and we started talking about writing, and then we were talking about everything, and then..." I trailed off, not sure how to explain falling for someone in seven days without sounding completely unhinged.
"And then you fell for each other," Micah finished softly. "The way people do."
I looked at him gratefully. "Yeah. Like that."
"But he lives in New York," Finn pointed out, ever the practical one. His coffee mug looked like a thimble in his work-rough hands. "And you live here. How does that work?"
"We're figuring it out." I wrapped both hands around my mug again, needing something to hold onto. "I might go visit for a weekend of he might come here. To visit. To meet you all properly and see the town and..." I swallowed. "And see if he can picture it."
"Picture what?" Garrett asked, though his expression said he already knew.
"Living here. Maybe. Eventually." The words felt huge saying them out loud, like they might tip the earth off its axis. "He's not completely happy in New York anymore. Hasn't been for a while. And this week, being at the retreat, working on his writing without all the pressure and the industry bullshit... he remembered why he started writing in the first place."
"And that involves you," Finn said. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah." I met his eyes, refusing to flinch. "It involves me."
Garrett was watching me with that intense look he got when he was trying to read someone, the one that made people confess things they hadn't planned to say. "Are you happy?"
The question cracked something open. "Terrified," I admitted. My hands shook slightly around the mug. "But yeah. Really happy."
His expression softened immediately, his whole face transforming. "Then we're happy for you."
"Even though it's complicated?" I asked. "Even though he's kind of famous and lives across the country and this might blow up in my face spectacularly?"
"Especially because it's complicated," Micah said quietly, wrapping his hands around his tea. "The best things usually are."
I looked around the table at these three men who'd become my family. Who'd supported me when I'd moved here two years ago, knowing no one, searching for a life that would fit me better. Who'd shown up at the library to practically push me toward the retreat because they knew I needed it. Who sat here now, ready to catch me if I fell.
"I want it to work," I said quietly. "So much."
"Then we'll help make sure it does," Garrett said firmly, his voice taking on that fierce edge he got when he decided someone was under his protection. "When he comes to visit, we'll show him why Juniper Bluff is special. We'll welcome him. And if it doesn't work out—" his expression turned almost dangerous "—then we'll be here for that too."
"Thank you." My voice came out rough. "I don't know what I did to deserve you all."
"Showed up," Finn said simply. "And stayed. That's enough."
Garrett raised his ridiculous peppermint concoction. "To Jason. And his fancy famous boyfriend who'd better treat him right or answer to us."
"He's not famous here," I protested, even as I was laughing and raising my own mug. "He's just Brent."
"Good," Finn said, his mug clinking against mine. "That's exactly how it should be."
We toasted, and the conversation shifted to other things. Updates about the tree farm's upcoming rush—Finn expected to sell out by the fifteenth. Micah's plans for a holiday reading series at the bookstore, featuring local authors and mulled cider. Garrett's new seasonal drink experiments, including something involving eggnog and espresso that he was either going to serve or use to strip paint.
Normal things. Comfortable things. The rhythms of my life here, the life I'd built from nothing two years ago.
