River giggled, and maybe an outsider could have seen that as flirtatious. “It was almost my name.”
“Not almost,” Rob said, shaking his head doubtfully.
Hallie didn’t feel any less confused, and she was sure that wasn’t simply because she’d slept badly.
“It’s the river I’m named after,” River said proudly, beaming.
That didn’t help. “You’re named after a river?”
“Yep. The St. Clair.”
“Right,” she said slowly. She knew the river in question—the one that ran along part of the border between Michigan and Canada—but her mom had always taught her that if you didn’t have anything nice to say, it was better to say nothing at all. And she wasn’t certain that pointing out that ‘River’ did not bring to mind a specific river was nice. “Cool.”
Rob laughed, reaching around River to thump Hallie’s shoulder. “See, she gets it. You’re gonna fit in great here.”
She nodded. Not her goal at all. “Thank you.”
He nodded past her. “Audrey likes to give us shit, going on about how, if you’re naming someone after a river, you need to use the other part of the name so people can recognize it. But why? River works great. Still named after the St. Clair, isn’t she?”
Hallie half smiled. She didn’t want them to like her. And shedidagree with Audrey. That was all it was. “I mean, I can see her point. I’ve known River for a while now and never would have guessed she was named after an actual river.”
She’d also never have guessed just how many conversations this family could turn into insulting Audrey. Why the hell she still came near them bothered Hallie. There was no healthy reason for her to do that, and that made her insides ache for Audrey.
Rob snorted, looking down at the right side of his menu. “Don’t think you have to take her side. She got all hoity-toity when she moved away. Thinks she’s not one of us these days.”
Even wrapped around River’s chair, Hallie found she was too close to Audrey because she absolutely felt the way Audrey stiffened at his comments.
The table was cramped, that was all.
And she was far more concerned with how much the conversation was hurting Audrey, especially when she simply laughed and said, “That’s not it at all. I’m very glad to be back here with everyone. I just find it surprising that ‘River’ issupposed to reference a single river, rather than, you know, the concept of rivers in general.”
He waved a hand in her direction. “Yeah, yeah. You can make decisions when you have kids. But don’t think we’ll be going easy on your name choices.”
Audrey muttered something Hallie couldn’t catch, so she knew Rob definitely wouldn’t, and she was glad when he turned to his wife to chat instead. If he’d kept going, she might have felt compelled to keep arguing and she had no idea whether Audrey would want that. Plus, that would definitely wreck breakfast, she’d be told to leave, and Audrey would be left alone.
No, she needed to ride this thing out, forget any crush she was in danger of developing, and be there for Audrey as a friend.
“Do you remember when we got brunch with Pierre at that café near the inn?” River asked, claiming Hallie’s attention and, unfortunately, driving home just how used to jabs at Audrey the entire family was with the way they flowed into other conversations. It set Hallie on edge.
“Uh, yeah, the one where he claimed to hate pancakes and then ate two orders of them?”
“That’s the one!” River laughed. “Well, the pancakes here are even better than that place, and, at Christmas, they come with all these holiday sprinkles. It’s so cute. We have to get some and text him the pictures.”
Hallie laughed a little. “Deal.” She couldn’t resist glancing at Audrey, who looked fine, honestly. It was unnerving. “Do you know what you’re getting?”
Audrey looked at her, barely lifting her head from where she’d been reading her own menu. “Pancakes.”
“Oh, I hear they come with Christmas sprinkles here.” Her voice matched Audrey’s, a little lower than everyone else’s. A conversation for just the two of them. It was exactly the kind ofthing she was supposed to be doing with River, but it was coming a million times easier with Audrey.
“I have heard that somewhere.” Those enchanting brown eyes crinkled as she smiled, and Hallie knew she was going to Hell becausehowwas she supposed to resist them?
She kept her free arm around River, but they were both turning away from each other. River, more interested in a conversation with her mom and dad, and Hallie, more interested in… Audrey.
After a moment of too much eye contact, Audrey looked back at the menu, seeming to focus on the drinks. “Did you sleep well?”
Lie, Hallie’s mind screamed at her instantly. “Yeah, pretty well, thanks. You?”
Audrey’s face twitched but she controlled it quickly. Every little bit of her was so very controlled.
