Though she wore her own matching smile, Hallie still managed to roll her eyes. “Like she was going to say no. You two are obsessed with one another. Madly in love. Two halves of a whole.”
“It’s still nerve-racking,” Sydney defended herself, in spite of all the kind things Hallie had just said in support of their love and general soulmatism. Which was a word she’d just made up but felt entirely accurate. Sydney let out a fluttery exhale, pulling Hallie’s attention back to her nervous-for-no-reason best friend. “Even though we’ve talked about it, and I knew that we were onthe same page about wanting to take the next step, it was the scariest thing that I’ve ever done.”
“You deserve to be happy, Syd. So does Reese. And the fact that you two found it with one another?” Hallie smiled again, basking in a softer version of the elation that Sydney must be feeling. “I’m really happy for you both.”
And truly, she was. Maybe lying on a sofa on New Year’s Day, so hungover that she was struggling to hold her own head up, was tempering her ability to jump around—and squealing was out of the question—but that didn’t change the fact that Sydney and Reese weresoright together that whether they got engaged after six months or six years, it would have been exactly what was meant to happen.
Sydney schooled her with an intense stare, and Hallie knew the focus of their conversation was about to be directed at her. She girded her loins—at least as much as anyone in her current state could manage. “So what gives? Why didn’t you tell me that you were coming back early?”
Hallie sighed and wiped at her cheek, still creased with wrinkles. “I didn’t feel good being there,” she admitted. It felt cathartic, in some ways, to say it out loud. It felt awful in others.
She didn’t want to resent her family. But that’s exactly the emotion she’d identified in between her first and second whiskey drinks on the plane, once she was finally sure that she was getting the hell out of Colorado.
Damn Brynn’s feelings wheel.
She’d opened up her phone on her first flight, the longest leg, that would take her to Orlando of all places, and had briefly considered getting Wi-Fi. Only, she’d realized that she hadn’t wanted to let the outside world in, especially if her parents or brother had texted. And, if she was being honest with herself, because she hadn’t wanted to deal with the more likely scenario that they hadn’t.
And then she’d opened Brynn’s texts, missing the normalcy of the inn. Which, for the last week, had come in the form of Brynn’s hyper-specific questions, including gems like whether the side door had a maximum amount of time it could be left open before it violated any safety protocols and if the inn’s age meant that it was grandfathered from the newest electrical compliance requirements. (Brynn had noticed that one of the lights in the dining room was flickering.) And there was Hallie’s personal favorite: whether Hallie had asked Reese if she’d had any beach profiling completed ahead of purchasing the inn, given the increase in coastal erosion due to climate change over the last few decades.
Instead of a fun wander around Brynn’s mind, though, she’d stumbled upon the feelings wheel that Brynn had sent her last night.
“Wanna tell me what happened?” Sydney coaxed, relaxing back in her chair. “I’ve been told that I’m a decent listener.”
Hallie frowned, the last night at her brother’s house starting to soak back into her brain. “We were having this family dinner, and… I don’t know. I suddenly had this overwhelming and intense sensation that I shouldn’t be there. That I needed to leave as soon as possible. I was so mad and sad and… resentful,” she voiced out loud, hating how it sounded but accepting the truth in the word.
She had all of Sydney’s attention, the concern evident in her features. “Why are you resentful?”
Hallie sighed. Maybe it would feel good to get it out. It seemed crazy that it would make her feel worse. “We didn’t discuss it over the summer, and I’m pretty sure that I gave the impression that I was on board but…”
“But what?” Sydney asked, leaning forward.
“My parents didn’t really talk to me about selling the inn. Actually, I was notified that it was being sold along with all theother employees,” Hallie said, wincing as she accepted a truth she’d been staving off for months.
“They did what?” Sydney yelled, her voice cracking loudly through the phone.
And even though she appreciated Sydney's emphatic anger on her behalf, Hallie still felt the need to defend her resentment when she said, “I mean, I know that I didn’t own The Stone’s Throw or anything, but I have worked here for the last fifteen years.” And it just hurt, to be such an afterthought in her parents’ life.
She just couldn’t do it anymore.
“I wish I would have known, Hal. I’d have never pushed so hard for you to go there over Christmas.” Hallie was about to respond that none of this was Sydney’s fault when she added, “Is this why you’ve been so resistant about hiring someone?”
Hallie pushed herself up on her elbows. “I’m not… resistant. I genuinely have been super busy the past few months with the increase in guests, but I won’t lie that, as the holidays got closer, the idea of staying here didn’t seem like such a bad option.”
“I hate this for you, Hallie. All of it. Now that my parents are back, you’realwayswelcome to spend Christmas with us.” Sydney sounded so anguished, when today should have been one of the happiest of her life.
With all the effort she could muster, Hallie rolled herself over and then sat up on the sofa, looking at Sydney intently. “You’re not a mind reader, Syd. I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t ready to deal with the implications. You did nothing wrong.”
Sydney let out a huff. Then her stare grew curious, and Hallie felt like she’d been put under a magnifying glass. “Why were you asleep on your own sofa when I called?”
What a question. It was one she planned to answer, but last night was still filtering through her mind in bits and pieces. She’d come home and… “Brynn and I got really drunk last night.Well, I got really drunk,” Hallie amended. “I’m not sure how much Brynn actually had.”
She smiled, realizing that for all the uncomfortable feelings swirling around inside of her because she’d talked about her parents, she’d actually had a really good time last night. Like, more fun than she’d had in months. Maybe longer.
“You and Brynn?” Sydney repeated, like Hallie had just told her best friend that she was planning on taking a month-long camping trip.
“Yeah? We had a few drinks, did a few hexes, danced naked in the moonlight. Normal New Year’s Eve stuff,” Hallie said with a completely straight face, doing everything that she could to sell the bit.
Sydney’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.”
