Mom shoved me playfully. “Oh, it’s not that bad.”
“It’s forty degrees, Mom. This is not beach weather. I don’t know how you can stand it.”
She turned away, patting Noel who had plopped down between the two Adirondack chairs we were sitting in. After a minute, Noel nudged her nose under my blanket, searching.
“I don’t have the stupid ball, Noel,” I complained. “You’re going to have to bug Bri for it.”
I felt Mom’s eyes on me but was careful to keep my attention on the water. I’d already tried to blame my shitty attitude on being overworked and not sleeping well since we arrived, but Mom had seen right through it. She’d asked me once what was wrong, but when I’d said I wasn’t ready to talk about it, she simply nodded and said, “Well, when you are, you know I’m here.”
I missed Alex. I missed him like crazy, and I kept replaying our last conversation in my head, over and over. How could he seem so distant and disconnected after all we’d shared? Was it really that easy for him to let me go?
It hurt that he wasn’t here to share this weekend with me. I hadn’t realized how much I was looking forward to introducing him to my mom until he’d taken that away from me, and I had also been looking forward to having a few days off together. I wanted to take Roxy to the beach so she could run and stretch her newly healed leg. There was so much about this trip I had been looking forward to, and he’d ripped it all to shreds.
Just like my heart.
Of course, it didn’t help that Aunt Molly had brought her new fiancé over for Thanksgiving dinner, which meant I had to endure their smoochy kisses and hushed giggles over inside jokes. It made me unbelievably jealous and had put me in a foul mood long before dinner started. I was rude to nearly everyone and even complained about Bri’s pie, when it was actually pretty damn good.
All of it had been nothing more than my broken heart lashing out, though of course no one understood that because I still refused to talk about it.
Sucking in a breath, I said, “I’m sorry for how I treated Aunt Molly and everyone else at dinner yesterday. I know I was rude. I’ll swing by and apologize before we leave.”
Without saying anything, Mom reached over to place a hand on my arm, and when she didn’t remove it right away, I felt a peace start to settle over me. God, how had I forgotten about the magic in Mom’s fingertips? She could turn any crappy day around with her silent reassurance.
“Thank you,” I whispered, knowing she’d understand.
She gently squeezed. “You going to tell me who broke your heart?”
I glanced at her, a little surprised she’d put the pieces together when I hadn’t told her about Alex at all. But it wasn’t the first time I’d crashed and burned from a relationship, and now that I thought about it, my reactions to Molly and David had probably been what clued her in.
“You would’ve met him if things hadn’t gone south so quickly,” I said.
She tilted her head, confused. “It was serious, then?”
I didn’t know how to reply to that, so I just shrugged.
“You didn’t tell me you were seeing anyone.”
“I know,” I admitted. “It kinda happened fast.”
She chuckled, and I shot her a look. “Oh, Vaughn. Why am I not surprised? With a heart like yours, it’s impossible not to give too much away too soon.”
Bri joined us, draping an arm around my shoulder as though she’d sensed I was about to spill the beans about Alex.
“What happened, sweetie?” Mom asked.
And because it was Mom, I told her everything. From the day I left Bri’s house and found Alex and Roxy on the side of the highway to how he’d acted the night before we left. I even told her about our first kiss, after he’d surprised me with the lights for the clinic’s sign. I had to choke back tears when I shared about the first time he willingly played his harmonica for me. That was one of my favorite memories, coming out of my bedroom to find Roxy pulling on his pajamas and demanding he stop. Alex had just ignored her and continued on, all because he knew I’d want to hear him play. I’d lost a huge chunk of my heart to him that night, and I wanted to believe he’d tried to give me some of his in return, but now I wasn’t so sure.
I knew it made absolutely no sense to be this torn up about a guy I hadn’t even known through two seasons, but it felt like I’d lost my best friend. I’d gotten so used to Alex being there, to him making me laugh, and walking in the door to someone who cared enough to make a hot meal after a long day. Not to mention, I slept better nestled into his musky scent. It was as comforting to me as a warm blanket, if not a little more so.
Mom hadn’t said much while I shared our story, and I could see the uncertainty in her eyes the longer it went on, especially when I told her about Alex’s ex. I hadn’t planned on diving into that with either of them, but once I got started, it had been impossible to stop. Mom’s frown deepened, and I could only imagine how it felt to know her son had fallen for someone as lost and damaged as I was making Alex seem, but Bri was quick to come to my rescue.
“He’s a good guy, Mom,” Bri said. “I was skeptical at first too, but he’s better than anyone Vaughn has dated before. I really like him.”
I reached back to put a hand on Bri’s arm, silently thanking her for the support.
“And he makes Vaughn laugh, which, as you know, is something he needs more of.”
“Hey!”
