As she fanned her blush brush across her cheek, she thought about Hallie, who was currently out working the front desk. She didn’t understand where Hallie’s resistance was coming from. She was young. Beautiful. And, by Hallie’s own admission, with Brynn working at The Stone’s Throw, she had more free time available to her.
Brynn didn’t really understand why it bothered her so much that Hallie wasn’t as excited—or as fixated—on dating as she was. Probably because it made Brynn feel a bit silly to be putting so much effort into what largely amounted to a gamified way to meet people.
Still, Brynn hated a missed opportunity. The stars were aligning for Hallie Thatcher to achieve what she professed to want. Which, as far as Brynn could discern, was to get more of a social life.
And Brynn could think of no one more deserving to have the life they dreamed about.
She glanced down at her watch. If she didn’t leave soon, she’d miss the scheduled meeting time. Somehow, she’d just been staring blankly into the mirror for the last few minutes, thinking through how her life was currently a mix of contentment and excitement, something she’d never come close to having before.
She didn’t want to be late, of course, but there was also no way that she was leaving without talking to Hallie first.
She booked it out of the bathroom and into the living room, where her coat was on the hook next to the front door. The kitchen was quiet as she walked by the double doors, with breakfast having come and gone.
Hallie was deep in conversation with two guests and didn’t spot her as she came around the corner. And she just looked so in her element, Brynn decided. Hallie’s elbow was resting on the check-in desk, holding a brochure as she pointed to whatever she was telling the two guests about. Probably some of the indoor activities local to the area, which Brynn knew Hallie preferred over any nature-related adventures.
As the guests started walking away, Hallie noticed her. Anyone breaking into a smile like the one directed at Brynn just then, especially Hallie, made her pick up her pace to cover the distance over to the desk.
Hallie’s smile didn’t temper. If anything, it picked up in wattage as Brynn drew closer. “I feel like I should take a picture or something to commemorate this moment, like it’s your first day of school.”
Brynn rolled her eyes, but she knew that she was wearing a matching smile. “My parents would probably love it if you sent them a copy. Truly.”
“Are we thinking wallet-sized, or will it be framed on the wall?” Hallie asked, leaning across the desk.
“Both,” Brynn admitted, laughing. It felt good to joke about how overbearing her parents were, which was something she didn’t usually do.
Hallie’s voice dropped into a more earnest tone. “How are you feeling?”
Brynn tried to wave off the question, even as she could feel heat splotching her cheeks. “I’m a little excited.” She paused before adding, “A little nervous.”
“I think that’s normal,” Hallie said at the same time she grabbed Brynn’s hand, squeezing it. “I think it’s really incredible how you just had a plan and now you’re following through on it. That’s a really admirable trait. So whether the date is deemed a success, you’ve already done the hardest part.”
It was crazy how Hallie always seemed to know exactly what Brynn needed to hear, and her shoulders softened into a more comfortable posture as she let herself enjoy the calm before the storm.
When Hallie gave her hand another gentle squeeze and then released her, Brynn missed the stabilizing contact.
Even though shewasexcited, there was also a part of her that wanted to ask if Hallie would just send the front desk requests directly to her phone and hang out in the apartment with Brynn, where they could pick up on the mystery miniseries they only had a few episodes left to finish.
Nowthatsounded like the perfect day.
But no. She wasn’t going to ask that of Hallie. And she definitely wasn’t going to flake on Jake, who’d even gone so far as to text her this morning to confirm their date. Hallie had said that Jake’s level of direct communication, coupled with the fact that he hadn’t tried to turn their messages into anything even remotely sexual, was as rare as winning the lottery and then walking outside only to be hit by lightning.
She wanted Hallie to join in the nervous merriment with dates of her own, which meant that instead of voicing her hesitation, she righted her shoulders and shot Hallie a smile. “Okay. I’ll be back… whenever I’m back,” she said, walking toward the front door.
“You’ve got this,” she heard Hallie call out from behind her. “And I’m only a text away if you need anything. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!”
With their goodbyes done and Brynn thrust out into the cold January day, she was going on her first online date. All she could do was hope that she didn’t seriously mess it up.
Forty-five minutes later, basically the runtime of a scripted drama, and Brynn was right back where she started—at the check-in desk at The Stone’s Throw Inn.
This time, Hallie was staring at her, eyes squinting with bewilderment. “He already unmatched you?”
Brynn looked down at her phone, open to the app, just to make sure that she hadn’t been mistaken. It’s not like she was crushed, but shewasembarrassed. Which she felt was an especially fair reaction to being unmatched on her ten-minute walk home from the coffee shop.
In the minutes since it had happened, she had been racking her brain to come up with whatever she’d done that was egregious enough to be ghosted—a word Hallie had taught her—after they’d met in person.
“I don’t—” Her voice was uncharacteristically high, unexpected tears prickling behind her eyes.
Her first date since Grant, and she’d completely bombed it. Even if Grant and any thoughts of a life with him were solidly in the past, it still stung that getting back out there was failingsospectacularly.
