My smile is sudden, my heart expanding at the thought of them as boys, setting their sights on a goal. “I hope they agreed to the ducks after all that.”
“No, they said we could get a dog instead.”
“Aw.”
I like him. There’s no denying it. I like Jonas too, but there’s something about Anders that draws me to him on a different level. He’s much more my type, a bit more cultivated and lessruggedly masculine than his brother. Every time we speak, I feel a little bit more awake, a little bit more alive.
It’s just as well we’re unlikely to cross paths again while I’m here. My heart couldn’t cope with another upheaval right now, and an unrequited crush—or even a holiday fling—wouldn’t do me any good at all.
The line has gone quiet. I hear Anders draw a long, slow breath.
A thought comes to me, something I feel I should mention.
“Anders,” I say carefully. “There’s a length of rope hanging from a branch down by the river.”
“It’s a swing. We used to play on it as kids.”
“Do you want me to... I don’t know... climb up there somehow and cut it down?”
“How do you think you’re going to do that?” He sounds amused. “Hop out along the branch like a little bird?”
I let out a huff.
“I’m kidding. I’m sorry. If he wanted to take that way out, he wouldn’t bother with that old rope, he’d use a new one.”
My stomach turns over at the visual that claws its way into my head.
“Fuck,” Anders mutters, joking over.
“My dad used to call me Little Bird.” I latch on to the first change of subject I can think of.
“What?” He’s still distracted by his dark thoughts.
“You teased me about hopping out on the branch like a little bird. It’s what my dad used to call me when I was younger: Little Bird.”
“He doesn’t anymore?”
“Not since my parents split up.”
“When was that?”
“I was about five or six. He left when Sheryl fell pregnant with my half sister.”
“Was she with you at the bar that night?”
“Yes, that was Bailey.”
“I recognized the guy you both were with.”
I thought he barely looked at us.
“Her husband, Casey.”
“I think we went to the same school.”
“You did,” I confirm.
“You know that for sure?”
