Brynn furrowed her brows, flipping through all the information that she’d learned over the past week in her mind’s eye. She could see the leaflet placed in each hotel room, which listed the FAQs. “Nine a.m. on weekdays and ten a.m. on the weekends. And since today is Monday, breakfast will be available until nine a.m.,” she finished with a decisive nod and a smile.
Unless Brynn felt comfortable with someone, she was usually nervous, and given that the only people she was comfortablewith were her parents, Gregory, and Reese, she spent a lot of time fretting about social situations.
“If you head out the back patio doors and to your right, there’s a lovely little path that will take you right along the coastline,” Hallie added from beside her.
The woman’s tepid smile morphed into a more genuine one. No surprise there. Hallie had that effect on people, Brynn included. “Good to know.”
Hallie pointed toward the breakfast area, two sets of eyes following her gesture. “There are also to-go cups for coffee and hot chocolate, if you’d like something warm for your morning stroll.” The way she said “morning stroll” so airily, like she was painting a picture for the guests, was something Brynn tried to file away. Her own words were usually targeted. Precise. They weren’t meant to be so… evocative.
But now, Brynn could picture it, too. Gravel crunching beneath booted feet as they wandered through the pine trees and out toward the rocky shoreline, where the waves continued to crash with tidal predictability no matter the time of year. Taking a deep inhale of a warm drink as a lone seagull cawed in the distance, swooping fluidly in the cloudless sky.
The couple—she could call them that, now that they’d confirmed it themselves—wandered over to the drinks to take Hallie up on her offer. Brynn turned to where she stood at the end of the counter, her elbow resting on the wood. “You are so good with people. It’s really incredible.”
A faint blush dusted Hallie’s cheeks, like she was surprised at the praise. If anything, Brynn was just stating a fact. Regardless, she enjoyed causing Hallie’s reaction. “It’s not an essential job requirement, but it sure doesn’t hurt when you’re dealing with them all day.”
Brynn straightened her name tag, matching the smile that had bloomed on Hallie’s face once she’d accepted the compliment. “If it was, I probably wouldn’t have been hired.”
Hallie rolled her eyes at her, but not in the way people usually did. Instead, it made Brynn feel, well,good. Like she was a part of some secret conversation, which didn’t usually happen to her. Her parents looked at her lovingly, no matter what she said, and Gregory, she thought, treated her more like a little sister than anything else, not that she could really remember anymore what it was like to be one of those. That realization made her heart squeeze a little tighter than she wanted, and she took a calming breath, smiling through it like she always did.
Hallie, still leaning over on the desk, played with a tendril of hair that was framing her face. Luckily, it seemed like she didn’t notice Brynn’s moment of unsteadiness when she said sincerely, “You agreed to spend your holidays working here so that I could visit my family. I’ll take effort over execution any day.”
Brynn was… delighted by Hallie’s words. That was the emotion she realized was soaking into her chest and making her feel warm. It washed away the sadness she’d just been feeling, which made her even more grateful to be able to bask in it, even if only for a moment, until her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She was going to ignore it—it was probably just her parents—but then Hallie’s, which was on top of the counter, did the same. Hallie didn’t have the same reservations about using her phone at work, which made a lot of sense; she was, after all, the boss. Quickly, Hallie scanned the text message, and it reminded Brynn that she had no idea what went on in Hallie’s life when she wasn’t working. She hoped that would change one day since making friends wasn’t exactly easy for Brynn, and they seemed, at least from her perspective, to be getting along well.
She was surprised when Hallie commented, still looking down at her phone, “We’ve been summoned to Cape Canoodle for dinner on Tuesday night. You’re in the group text, too.”
Brows furrowed, Brynn pulled out her own phone. It was a text from Reese to both of them.
Reese Devereux - 7:05 a.m.
Dinner on Tuesday night? Figured it would be great for us to all catch up ahead of Hallie heading out of town!
Brynn tried the words out loud, a question in need of clarification more than anything else. “Cape Canoodle?”
Hallie laughed guilelessly. “They know that I call it that, for the record,” she said as she made a circle with her hands that she squeezed inward. “Because they’re ensconced in their own little bubble over there.”
Brynn nodded, taking in Hallie’s words. She hadn’t ever been completely wrapped up in anything, truly, except for school. The idea of being wrapped up in another person was just so… foreign. Still, it seemed nice. If nothing else, this would be a chance for her to spend a little more time with Sydney. Which, when she thought about it, made her grow buzzy with anxiety that settled over her like an itchy blanket. She scratched at her arm. “I’m happy to work on Tuesday night so that you can go.”
Hallie shot her a bemused look and stood up straighter. “Oh, you aren’t getting out of this. We’ll go later in the evening. I’ll send the intercom through to my phone.”
Brynn mirrored Hallie’s posture so they stood facing one another, the corner of the desk between them. “We can do that?” she asked, already filing the information away for later.
“No one really uses it, but it’s helpful to have in case of emergencies. I should have led with that during your training. You’d probably have loved it.” There it was, that smile again, but not like Brynn was the butt of the joke. More like theywere sharing in one. Hallie really did have this effortless way of making Brynn feel like it was okay to be herself.
With that in mind, she relaxed. For some reason, she felt like if Hallie was going to be there, it would all be okay. “Guess we’re going to Cape Canoodle.”
Hallie hadn’t been exaggerating about Reese and Sydney. If she hadn’t mentioned it to Brynn a few days ago, though, Brynn probably wouldn’t have noticed. Her parents were very much the same way when they were together, constantly in sync with one another in a way that she rarely saw modeled elsewhere.
But with Hallie pointing her in the direction of the happy couple, even she could admit that Cape Canoodle, which she’d grown fond of repeating in her head, was giving the Fitzpatricks a run for their money.
The dinner party was seated at a gorgeous wooden dining table, Brynn and Hallie on one side, Sydney and Reese on the other. The Cape Cod they’d called home for the last three months had been updated at some point, an open concept that blended the kitchen, dining room, and living area into one large space.
A perfect layout for a couple that couldn’t seem to take their eyes off one another.
“This chicken parm is delicious, Reese.” Brynn put down her fork. She couldn’t manage another bite, even if it was the first non-delivered food she’d had in a week and a half.
“Thanks, Brynn.” Reese looked over at Sydney, her voice filled with so much affection when she added, “Sydney did all the heavy lifting on the sauce. Everything else is just accompaniment.”
