She could at least give her friend points for creativity, even if she wasn’t going to tell her that. And why was Sydney trying to distract her when there were actual, serious issues on the table? Greg’s injury. Reese’s fainting. That was what they should be focusing on!
Hallie took a steadying breath. “There have been no conversational happenings as to the status of anything related to what could be construed as a romantic relationship.”
Sydney’s eyes narrowed. “Then why do you sound like a confusing proposition on a voting ballot?”
Hallie chanced a glance over her shoulder, where Brynn was still sitting on the sofa with Reese, who’d shifted into an upright position. Seeing that at least all was quiet over there, she lookedback at Sydney. “You two should really get going to beat the storm.”
“What about non-conversational updates?” Sydney nudged. “Like holding hands and whatever it is that you aren’t telling me.”
This was the problem with lifelong friendships! It was impossible to keep anything from Sydney, especially once she got fixated on something.
At Hallie’s silence, Sydney pressed on. “What happened to never lying to me, huh? I want you to know that, as the architect of this date, I was expecting a full debrief.”
Massaging the bridge of her nose, Hallie managed to get out, “Architect, really? I always like how humble you are, Sydney. Truly.”
Sydney gasped. “You’re being evasive. You’re evading me. Me, your best friend!”
She appreciated how aghast Sydney was right now, and Hallie laughed in spite of her best attempts to stay focused.
And then she felt the flutter again, low in her stomach, when she thought about what Brynn had done for her earlier today. How did she even quantify that to Sydney?
To make Hallie feel so seen and protected and defended, in a way that she’d never experienced from anyone other than Sydney. Definitely not from anyone she’d ever had romantic feelings for.
“Well, I still really care about her,” was where she landed, smiling softly.
Just then, she felt as much as she heard movement behind them. She knew it was Brynn from the subtle scent of her perfume. She’d been dreaming of the soft scent for weeks now.
When Brynn reached the counter, she stood so close that their shoulders were almost touching, and Hallie had to resistthe urge to reach for her hand. Resist a lot more than that, in fact.
“I’m going to finish cleaning the rooms since Candace will be gone for the rest of the day.” Brynn’s voice broke through the haze, keeping Hallie from almost doing something incredibly dumb, like wrapping her arm around Brynn’s waist and pulling her close.
“You don’t need to—” But Hallie’s words died in her throat when Brynn leveled her with a smile that stole her breath. Yeah, this had moved laughably far beyond friendship for Hallie.
Brynn glanced at her again, oblivious to her turmoil. “You can make sure things are okay here, and then Reese and Sydney can head home before the snow gets too bad?”
They all looked out the window near the desk then as fat, heavy snowflakes fell harder than they had a few minutes before.
“That’s a great idea, Brynn. Thank you for the generous offer,” Sydney said at the same time Hallie shot her best friend a daggered look. Had she not tried to convince Sydney of this, not even ten minutes ago?!
Brynn ran her hand down Hallie’s arm, which made her realize that she hadn’t even taken off her coat yet. All that Hallie could think about was how she had denied herself the chance to feel warm skin against her own. But then Brynn was saying, “I’ll check in with you later?”
Hallie wasn’t sure, but she thought that maybe there was the same awareness that she heard in her own voice, whenever Brynn was close and she had to pretend like her heart didn’t want to beat out of her chest.
She nodded, and Brynn disappeared down the hallway to find the cleaning cart where Candace had left it.
Sydney had that ridiculous smirk on her face again as she pointed in the direction that Brynn had just headed. “We will be discussing this at a later date. Right now, I have a fiancée toget home safely so that we can cuddle up together and ride this storm out.”
Hallie clicked her tongue against her teeth. “I’m going to say goodbye to Reese and thank her for the help today.”
“What am I, chopped liver?” Sydney asked, not without some glee. She could feel keenly that Sydney was living for the fact that something was finally going on in Hallie’s life.
“Her help doesn’t come with conditions,” Hallie batted back as she turned toward the sitting room, where Reese was looking at the two of them like they’d lost their minds.
But if Hallie was being honest, she liked that there was something going on, too. And she was more than a little addicted to who it was going on with.
Darkness had fallen by the time Hallie was on her last few laps to finish snowblowing the inn’s parking lot. The plow that they usually affixed to the truck hadn’t been hooked up before Greg had gotten injured. Luckily, the snowblower that they used for walkways around the property was gassed up and ready to go.
She made a mental note to send Greg a get-well-soon gift, once she was back inside.
