“For the house. Hayley saw an ad for it in Prince Edward Island and she twisted our arms until we came here to look at it.”
That was weird. Hayley usually told me everything, right down to the most insignificant details of her life, but she’d never said anything about that.
“What were you doing in Prince Edward Island?”
This made him uncomfortable, and the color drained from his face. He set down his fork and said, “I…uh… Honestly, this isn’t the time…”
“Harper?”
14
Finding My Place in the World
I turned to where I’d heard someone shout my name and saw Adele and Sid walking to our table.
“Hey!”
Adele hugged me so tight she squeezed a giggle out of me. I hadn’t expected such affection from her, and it made me feel a little awkward. I was almost moved to tears as I hugged her back.
“Honey, are you all right? That storm was worse than anyone expected, and we were worried about you. We went by your house and it was empty. I almost made Sid knock the door down.”
“Almost,” Sid interrupted her with a smirk. Adele gave him a playful slap on the chest. “Luckily we saw tire tracks going in the direction of the village, and I managed to convince her you had probably come down here.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?” she repeated. “You must have been scared, all alone there.”
“Relax, I’m fine. Plus, I had an unexpected visitor.” Trey stood up as I introduced him. “This is Trey, a friend of mine. This is Adele and Sid. They live on the island.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“The same, young man,” Sid said, reaching out his enormous hand.
“Oh, but you’re eating!” Adele almost shouted apologetically. “I’m so sorry for interrupting you.”
“It’s fine. You can join us if you like.”
“Yes, please do,” Trey seconded me, to my great relief.
We didn’t need to say it twice.
Sid pulled over two empty chairs, and we moved our plates aside to make room for them. Carlie came over, playing nice again, and Trey leaned in close to me.
“So first you introduced me as your brother-in-law’s friend. Now I’m your friend. Should I be getting excited about what comes next?”
I looked away, abashed, my defenses crumbling at my feet. Maybe I needed a break from them, though. Maybe there was no reason to keep them up. Maybe the line between bitterness and forgiveness is thin. Maybe it’s easy to imagine what you’d do in this or that situation when you’re living it in your mind, but when it actually happens, you have no idea how you’ll react. Because there are many shades of gray, and many colors in the mix, too.
“That depends,” I said softly.
“On what?” His face was very close.
“You think I’m going to make it that easy on you?”
“I’d be disappointed if you did.”
“Well, far be it from me to disappoint. I’m going to try to make you proud.” Looking at him, I saw something in his expression I had prayed to find there before.
“What do you do, Trey?” Sid asked.
“I’m an architect.”
