“And nothing. He’s still the bossy, annoying—”
“Hot. Irresistible.”
Harley rolled her eyes. “Yes—no! Fine. He looks good.”
“So good that a girl could forget the past, start over?” Winter bit into her rib.
“Nope. Not a chance.”
“C’mon, Harley. Let the man apologize.” Winter pushed her plate away.
“He’s not going to apologize. He’s ... not sorry.”
“You don’t know that—”
“He was at the funeral, Winter. Isawhim. And he just ... left. So, hello—if he wanted to, I don’t know, fix things between us, he would have stuck around. Maybe, even, turned into a nice guy? Remembered that we were friends once upon a time.”
“More than friends—”
Harley held up her hand. “Yes. More than friends.”
“You’ve been in love with the boy next door for the better part of your life. What, since you were five years old—”
“Hardly. But okay, sure. Maybe nine, or ten, or ... whatever.Yes. All my life. But I can’t make the man love me. And I’m not going to change for him either, so it doesn’t really matter. We’d have to be completely different people to make it work. Besides, the crash is between us.”
Winter nodded and touched Harley’s hand. “It was a storm, Harls. You know how it is here—you can plan all you want, but the storm can still find you.”
“I know that. But it doesn’t diminish the fact that his father was the pilot.” She trailed off, her chest aching. “I’m sorry for what I said at the sheriff’s office. I might have ... well, the truth is, I don’t really blame Jericho. It was an accident. But it’s still between us.”
Winter’s gaze softened. “Truth?” she said, her voice quiet, her fingers weaving into Harley’s. “He was hurting too.”
Harley’s jaw tightened.
“Yeah,” she said finally.
Winter squeezed her hand, then let go. “This is still the coolest house on the lake.” She got up and walked to the window, then turned on the outside light. It bathed the deck, a thin layer of snow on the log-peeled chairs that overlooked the frozen lake.
Harley had finished her ribs, got up, and set the plates in the sink.
Winter walked past her into the back bedrooms. Thankfully, she’d cleaned out all memories there—maybe tonight, she’d sleep in peace.
Winter emerged, carrying two comforters. “C’mon.” She handed Harley one and she took the other, draped it over herself. Harley followed Winter to the sliding door. She turned off the inside lights as Winter slipped into a pair of worn slippers. Clean guest slippers for exactly this purpose.
Harley donned her own, and the cold bit her face, swept in against her sweater as Winter let in the night. But she wrapped herself tight and followed her friend out. Winter shut off theporch light, closed the door behind them, then sat in one of the chairs.
Harley sat in the other.
The night wind creaked the trees and she leaned back, trying to see stars.
“This place brings it all back, doesn’t it?” Winter said, her voice quiet. “Your parents, Gabe, the plane crash, Jericho.”
“Yeah. But I’ll be okay.” Harley’s jaw tightened, her gaze flicking to the window.Stop doing that.“I’m just here for Mars.”
Winter glanced at her, and Harley envisioned her with a soft smile when she said, “You never forget your first love.”
Her first love. And into her mind, of course, flashed the image of Jericho scratching Orlando’s ears, his fingers gentle.
Shoot. Because that could only lead to other memories. The kind that could, yes, completely derail her.
