It was sweet that she’d insisted on giving Hallie a ride to catch her flight to Colorado, especially in morning traffic heading into Boston. It was also one of the only times Hallie had seen her best friend one-on-one in the last few weeks. Too bad she couldn’t find the enthusiasm to enjoy it.
She was struggling to articulate why it was, exactly, that she was feeling so nervous. Clearly, she was wearing that nervousness on her face. It made no sense. She was going to visit her family. People she’d grown up with. Had known, literally, since birth. But instead of excitement, there was an anxiety churning in her gut that had made it impossible to eat anything this morning.
Sydney prodded her with a long elbow. That was a definite negative of having such a tall friend; Hallie was never out of reach. “Hal, you’re starting to worry me. What gives?”
Hallie blew out a frazzled breath and kept looking out the window. “I don’t know? Maybe I’m an anxious flyer.” It could be true. She’d only been on an airplane twice in her life: last year,to support Sydney at Wimbledon, hot on the heels of discovering Grant’s adultery, and then a few years before that, when she’d visited Sydney in Florida during her off-season.
Other than that, she rarely traveled out of state, let alone somewhere that required an airplane to get there. Usually, her trips, however infrequent, had elicited excitement. Staring out the window at the expansiveness below. Existing above the clouds. Seeing whether she could complete theNew York Timescrossword puzzle in pen during the flight.
But maybe, as she was now twenty-eight and with a far less rosy outlook on the world, she’d developed a healthy dose of fear when it came to flying through the sky in what was essentially a bus.
The car slowed down as they hit a bit of traffic, and Sydney took the opportunity to side-eye her. “I don’t think that’s it, but you know yourself better than I do.”
“Do I?” Hallie asked, more to herself than Sydney. She’d feltofffor the last few weeks, even more than the normal unsteadiness that had been cropping up in her day-to-day life since the inn had been sold.
Sydney’s SUV crawled to a stop, and briefly, Hallie wondered if traffic would be so bad that she’d miss her flight. That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, except for the fact that Sydney was looking at her with so much pity, and there was nowhere for Hallie to escape. “I love you, Hal. I’m sorry that you’re struggling right now. Is this about leaving the inn for so long? Are you concerned about Brynn?”
Hallie emphatically shook her head in disagreement.
Brynn was actually the one bright spot in her life as of late. For whatever reason, she seemed to think that Hallie really did have her shit together, hanging on her every word like she was decreeing the Ten Commandments instead of going over checkout procedures.
Yesterday, on their last day of working together before Hallie flew out to Colorado, Brynn had followed her around with her ever-present notebook, documenting what Hallie had to assume was everything she’d said during the day. Verbatim, at least if the pages and pages of neat scrawl were any indication. God, what she wouldn’t give to take a look at that notebook one day. She would love to see Brynn’s interpretations of all their guest interactions.
Especially because Brynn was hilariously ill-equipped to deal with the interpersonal aspect of their role. Weirdly, Hallie wasn’t exactly pressed about it. She’d seen dozens of staff come and go over the years, and while she always appreciated competency, there was something so endearing about the attention and focus that Brynn was putting into doing a good job.
Brynn was clearly out of her depth but still tackled whatever situation Hallie threw her in with determination. In Hallie’s mind, all it meant was that she had more knowledge to share. It felt really good to be able to teach someone something, even if it was just the ins and outs of running The Stone’s Throw. And Brynn was an excellent student.
So Hallie shook her head emphatically, smiling as she thought about the seriousness with which Brynn approached everything. “Brynn’s great. She’s still getting a knack for the finer points of the role, but I have zero doubt that every single policy and procedure we have ever implemented will be followed to the letter.”
She could see Sydney’s eyebrows rise above her sunglasses. “She was quiet at dinner. I didn’t know if she felt awkward. I hope that wasn’t the case.”
Hallie smirked and took a sip of her iced coffee, not that she needed any more caffeine this morning. “Are you asking me if we gossiped about you on the drive home?”
“No,” Sydney said way too quickly before relenting with, “It could have been the next day, too.”
“I know that you and Reese both have major main character energy, but Brynn and I can lead a robust life without you two coming into it.”
“Well… what do you talk about?” Sydney asked. Hallie loved how nosy her best friend was acting right now. Which Sydney also seemed to realize. “I mean, come on. The woman last night is not the same person you’d expect to put Grant’s infidelities on blast. Tell me you aren’t curious.”
Suddenly, though it made no sense, Hallie felt protective of the little bit of her personal life that Brynn had shared. Usually nothing was off-limits between her and Sydney. “We haven’t delved into it. Our conversations are mostly about work. Brynn isverythorough.” Which was the truth, Hallie’s weird feelings aside, and it felt like safe enough information to share.
Sydney made a noncommittal sound in her throat, a clear indication of her displeasure. “Reese said the same thing.”
“Then I guess we should all take it as a sign that Brynn doesn’t actually want to talk about it?”
“Since when are you willing to back down from a good story?” To be fair, it wasn’t something that Halliewouldnormally do.
Hallie shot Sydney a serious look. “Let’s call it personal growth.”
Sydney mirrored the look right back. “Fine then. If it’s not the inn and it’s not Brynn, what’s got you so out of sorts?”
Hallie crumpled under the weight of Sydney’s stare. The thing about lifelong friendships: they didn’t leave a lot of places to hide. She needed to relent now and get this over with. “More of what we talked about over the summer, I guess,” she admitted, plucking at her seat belt to try and distract herself from how the words made her feel. “I’m churning while lifemoves on around me, and I don’t know how to get out of this rut that I seem to have found myself in.”
Sydney’s brows furrowed. “Do you know what you want? Or what you think will make you happy? Are you not liking the promotion?” Hallie was already committed to staying on at the inn for at least six months after the sale, but three months ago, Reese had made her an incredible offer. It was the most stability that she’d had since her parents had told her they were selling. She’d kept the owner’s quarters. Had much better benefits. And it came with an expanded role that allowed her to take on more responsibility.
So why did she still have a hollowness that crept into her chest at the most unexpected times?
Hallie ignored it like she always did and blew out a breath, tendrils of her hair tickling her face. “I actually do like working at the inn. And I like talking to people. Sure, I’d like a better work-life balance, but Reese is committed to making that happen.” Hallie started doing what she always did when her mind wandered through her future: assume that once they hired someone full-time at the inn to help her, all of her problems would magically be solved. “I’m sure that once we hire permanent help, I’ll have more time to get out there. ”
