“Thank you,” she said through gritted teeth, her back still to me, frozen to the spot.
“Your gratitude is overwhelming.”
I walked to her. If she couldn’t bother to face me, I would force it.
“You stopped me from falling over. It’s not like you gave me a kidney.”
Flippant wasn’t ever a word I’d use to describe Brenna. Kind, patient. Smart. Shy, except on the baseball field—the only time she became competitive. I loved that side of her. It hurt knowing that girl didn’t exist any longer, that this woman was someone I didn’t know at all.
“Good to know I’d get athank-youfor giving you an organ.”
“It’s not like I’d ask you anyway,” she replied. “No point in complaining about it.”
I stepped in front of her. She still hadn’t moved an inch.
“We haven’t seen each other in six years, Bren.” All the fight bled from my tone.
“There was a reason, Nathan. I know you haven’t forgotten.”
The memories were never far from the surface. All it took was being in this town, seeing her again to bring them—and my miserable feelings—back with startling clarity. I already wanted to get on a flight and get the hell out of here.
She breezed past me toward the stairs, making sure we didn’t touch. “And don’t call me that.”
“I thought we could be adults.”
“This is me being an adult, walking away before I say something impolite,” she said a beat before I heard her weight hit the first stair.
I raised my voice. “See you at dinner.”
She bristled. “I have other plans.”
She could avoid me tonight. Tomorrow, she had to sit at the same table as me. To revisit our past.
5
BRENNA
Now
I barely slept lastnight.
Nathan Sharpe was staying in the room across the hall. Each time I looked at the clock, another restless hour had passed, another hour bringing me closer to seeing him again.
I barely saw him at his father’s funeral, only glances if the crowd around him shifted in just the right way. I’d gotten used to the way my body reacted to him—stomach flipping, heart pounding, breath accelerating—butyearshad passed. It should’ve created an immunity response to his threat.
Last night hammered home just how little my body had fortified itself against Nathan. At least that time, any reaction could be blamed on my run.
Not one part of me expected him to stay at a B&B. He played professional baseball—in the minor leagues, sure, but he made more money than I did. He could afford to stay at a hotel in Palmer City and pay for transportation. He wasn’t responsible for supporting an out-of-work mother and a younger sister.
While I tried to disguise the dark bags under my eyes, I tortured myself with the memory of tripping over my feet at the sight of him. Blaming it on being startled helped save face, but I couldn’t hide from the truth. It didn’t matter how spectacularly our relationship had imploded, he still knocked my center of gravity off-kilter.
My phone rang as I was about to open the door. My stomach plunged at the name displayed on the screen. I took a deep breath. “Jack, hey.”
“Brenna, I’m glad I caught you.”
The relief in Jack’s voice ramped up my nerves. “Uh… I was just on my way out, but I have a few minutes. Where are you today?”
“Home.”
