Hallie slapped Sydney’s shoulder. “You didn’t tell me that!”
Sydney balked. “Because we’re not doing it. How was I supposed to know that being a recluse would be so hard?”
“It’s a lifelong endeavor,” Hallie admitted. She let out a deep, punctuated sigh before adding, “Think of it as an acquired skill that not many are up to the task of handling.”
She could see Sydney rolling her eyes at her. A snarky comment would have been on its way, except that Sydney put her blinker on and turned the SUV off the road they’d beentraveling down for the last few minutes. They’d reached the parking lot of a nondescript building, miles outside of town.
“Where are we?” Hallie peered out the window. It definitely wasn’t a restaurant or a party venue. The building was way too run-down for that.
“The Stoneport Animal Rescue,” Reese said, which still explained exactly zero about whatever the hell it was they were doing.
Still, Hallie loved animals. Growing up, she’d never been allowed to have one, and as an adult, she didn’t have the time to make sure that any pet she had would get enough care and attention.
Maybe, now that they had more help at the inn, it was something she could consider.
“Brynn gave us the idea, actually.” Reese turned around in her seat and gave Brynn a grateful smile.
Hallie looked toward Brynn. “What idea?”
“Well, when we were at the inn during the snowstorm, I mentioned thePeopleMagazine offer to Brynn. That it was just so crazy that they were willing to pay that much money for an exclusive. And even though we aren’t considering it, Brynn made an excellent point that while our wedding is going to be about us coming together as a couple, we’re probably going to be given a lot of gifts and money that we absolutely don’t need.”
It was the least surprising thing Hallie had heard tonight, that Brynn was thinking about helping other people.
Brynn, who’d been extremely quiet for the entire ride, finally spoke as they pulled into the almost empty parking lot. “It’s something that I’d wanted to do for my own wedding. But Grant had adamantly refused.”
A look of disdain flashed across Reese’s face. “One day, I’ll learn something about Brother Dearest that actually surprises me about him.”
Hallie didn’t love being reminded of just how close Brynn had come to marrying Grant. Sure, she’d thought about it in the abstract, but hearing it from Brynn’s lips, the reality that Brynn had been planning a wedding and life with him…Blech. The closer that she and Brynn got, the more it dug at something in her. Really, she wished that she could find Grant and give him a swift kick where the sun didn’t shine.
She could have spent all day fantasizing about that, but instead, she turned her focus from Reese back to Brynn, who was leaning across the middle seat. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Brynn shrugged. “I think I just sort of pushed it down until I talked about it with Reese last week.” Her voice dropped lower. “And I’ve been pretty busy since then.”
Sydney had parked, and she and Reese were both exiting the SUV when Sydney called, “We’re going to head in. We’re already running a few minutes behind, and the coordinator stayed late so that we could talk to them.”
Away from prying eyes, Hallie couldn’t help herself. She ran her fingers along Brynn’s temple, her hand settling against the jaw that she loved kissing. “You really are so incredible.”
Even in the darkness of the vehicle, she could see that Brynn was blushing. Hallie loved being the one to cause that look on Brynn’s face. “I know that I’m fortunate. I see it as my responsibility to redistribute the inequity whenever possible.”
Brynn bit her lip, and it took all the strength that Hallie possessed not to lean forward and kiss her. She knew this moment was going to escalate at any second, if the last few days were any indication. With a quiet groan, she dropped her hand to unbuckle her seat belt. “We better get in there. Maid of honor responsibilities and all.”
Brynn let out a soft exhale, and as was becoming more common, Hallie felt exhilaration mingled with comfort settle into her bones.
For a second, she sat with that feeling. How encompassing it was. For a brief moment, it unraveled all of her doubts and reservations. All because of the way that Brynn was looking at her, like she saw Hallie for exactly who she was and wanted her all the more because of it.
It was addictive to feel like she was the sole focus of someone’s attention. The fact that it was Brynn’s attention just made it all the more overwhelming.
As she shut her door, she’d made up her mind. One way or another, she needed to work through her issues. Because now that she knew what it was like to actuallybewith Brynn, it was becoming the thing that she wanted most in this world.
And for once in her life, she wasn’t going to stop herself from getting what she wanted.
It was entirely possible that the only thing on this earth that could distract Hallie from the woman walking next to her was a room full of adorable animals.
And, truly, they were all perfect. Every single one of them. The three-legged Dalmatian. The one-eared calico cat. The ridiculously overweight chihuahua.
When they’d entered the facility, Sydney and Reese had already been chatting with a woman, Eliza, who had explained that she was the executive director for The Stoneport Humane Society. Which, in her words, meant that she did a little bit of everything.
Because of her day-to-day at The Stone’s Throw, Hallie had resonated deeply with that sentiment.
