"Mom said they need a new event planner. You’d be perfect for it," Olive continues, encouraging me, while simultaneously ignoring her twin.
We’re both used to Lizzie’s crude comments, so none of us bat an eyelid.
Mom must’ve gotten ahead of herself and told the girls that I’m here to stay. And while I might be, nothing is guaranteed. I only came here to get away from California and to catch my breath.
To find out who I am outside of being Austin Anderson’s girlfriend.
If I find what I’m looking for in Grangewood Creek, great. If I don’t, I’m sure my family will survive.
"Slow down, guys. I don’t even know if I’m here to stay," I remind them as we walk into Bridie’s, in search of an empty booth, finding one in front of the dart board.
"Didn’t you have your whole life packed up into a moving truck with Mom and Dad’s house as its final destination? Seems pretty permanent to me." Lizzie queries, raising a brow as the three of us slouch into our seats.
"Lizzie!" Olive gasps, nudging her twin in the ribs with her elbow.
"What? Mom never said we couldn’t talk aboutthat.She just said we couldn’t say his name," Lizzie replies as she shrugs and picks up the menu.
She’s right.
Jenna helped me pack my life away and had it shipped back to my childhood home.
I can’t believe I packed up my entire life without a second thought. Heartbreak really does mess you up and make you do questionable things. I guess I have no choice but to face the consequences of my irrational decisions.
Looking around the pub, it hasn’t changed at all, and I’m hit with flashbacks upon flashbacks.
The dart board directly in front of us, where Austin and Harley sulked like sore losers after being beaten by Bea and me, still hung in the same spot it had fourteen years ago.
The pool table we used to play on every Sunday afternoon still had the same scuff marks on the legs and rips in the pockets. I bet the booth across from us still had A+C carved in the bottom left corner of the table, too.
Whenever Austin and I would come back home to visit, we stayed at the Anderson home, and the only time we left his house was to visit my parents. We never really ventured into town. We had no real reason to, so this is the first time I’ve been back here since high school.
"First round is on me. What do you both want?" I ask my sisters before I head to the bar.
"White wine for me and water for Olive," Lizzie requests. You would assume it’s because Olive is our designated driver, but I don’t think she’s touched any alcohol since her twenty-first birthday. She claims it’s'not good for her voice'or something.
Whatever that even means.
As I head toward the bar, a familiar pair of dark brown eyes finds mine, and my stomach turns with excitement and nerves all at once.
Bea.
She and I haven’t seen each other since graduation, when we went our separate ways.
While we were the best of friends in school, we lost touch after graduation. I guess life just got in the way and the distance played a huge part. We lost contact, but none of us really tried to keep in touch. I feel mostly to blame.
"Cass?" she asks, her voice softer than I remember.
She stares at me in disbelief from behind the bar, cleaning up some spillage.
"Bea. Oh, my goodness, it’s been, what?" I say excitedly as I leap over the bar to pull my first best friend in for a hug.
"Oh, about twelve years, give or take?" She chuckles.
Pulling away from her, I pull out a bar stool and take a seat.
She hasn’t changed a bit, apart from a few visible tattoos down her arms and a piercing above her top lip.
Her soft blonde hair is in a neat bun, with her side fringe tucked behind her left ear. She’s wearing black, high-waisted jeans, and a bright red crop-top.
