Chapter 31
Noah
After finally telling the truth to Ollie, admitting I’ll always love her, and owning up to my previous actions, the idea of leaving her in Milwaukee sounds atrocious.
The excitement around finally having the opportunity to properly date the girl of my dreams, my sister's best friend, and her giving me a second chance is enough for me to sell my house, quit my job, and stay in the city forever.
I feel a huge weight off my shoulders and am ecstatic to continue this adventure with Ollie while we figure our relationship out.
The drive back to Fisher Creek is only two hours but Cole insists on driving even though he’s done nothing but complain about having to sleep on the couch and having a sore back as a result. The amount he’s talking makes me suspicious that something happened after I went to Ollie’s room.
We’re listening to his old rock playlist and he is popping back and forth in his seat while drumming on the steering wheel. He’s such a dork.
I snort at him as he continues to jam my mind shifting back to Ollie and her car dance moves.
She used to steal the aux cord in my car playing whatever artist she was obsessed with that week, singing at the top of her lungs.
I should add that she’s a terrible singer but she didn’t care.
Her carefree energy when we were in the car was something that I loved the most about her.
She would move her hand like a wave to the beat of the song but also the way the car was moving.
Thinking back to Ollie and the way things used to be causing my face to heat and a smile creep onto my face.
“What the hell is wrong with your face?” Cole asks, looking at me with a cocky smile on it.
“Shut up,” I reply. Not wanting to tell him I was thinking about Ollie but not knowing how to change the subject I say, “Also, did you know Caroline was that terrifying?” I laugh trying to lighten the mood.
He does nothing but laugh in response, a nervous laugh that confirms my suspicions. Cole’s never been able to keep a secret. If his life depended on him to keep his mouth shut, he’d have died thousands of times now. Thankfully he isn’t a cat with only nine lives.
“Did you and Caroline…?” I ask directly. There’s no point in trying to beat around the bush because I know he’s going to crack before we get back to Fisher Creek. Plus, I’ve always been blunt, probably to a fault but it's better to just know than beat around the bush.
Cole’s face turns red and I know I hit the nail on the head. He doesn’t answer and I decide it's probably better I don’t need to know what happens between them. They don’t want to tell anyone yet and I certainly cannot keep this from Ollie.
But there’s also a part of me that is curious, because as far as I'm aware Cole hasn’t dated anyone since Layla, and that ended at least seven years ago.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you like this about a girl since Layla,” I say, wanting to get an update on the situation.
Layla Chaney’s family owns the golf course on the far side of the lake, and the Bennett family sold cranberries to them for their clubhouse. Cole and Layla met in middle school, and I swear they were going to be together until they weren’t.
Cole’s face falls into a scowl and he changes his percussion from matching the beat of the song to a nervous tap before looking at me and saying, “She reached out this morning.
“For what?” I almost yell, in response. I may not have been in town or even on speaking terms with Cole when everything went to shit but I heard enough to know that if Layla even considers walking back into his life, we’d all have a problem with it.
“She lives in the city and saw that we were at the bar last night in my stories. Said she wanted to check in and see how things were going.” The look on his face tells me he is extremely unsure of what to think about this entire situation.
Cole was convinced he and Layla were going to be married, even had a ring ready to propose when she finished college.
So when she abruptly ended their relationship, he was heartbroken.
I know he’ll always have a place in his heart for Layla and the growing up they did together, but she needs to drop off the face of the earth.
“I didn’t realize you still talked,” I respond, trying to be encouraging and also friendly.
“We don’t,” he whispers as if unsure if it’s a real fact or just a dream.
"We haven’t spoken since she told me off for asking questions about her reason for breaking up. That was basically seven full years ago. I honestly didn’t even know she still follows me.”
I make a mental note to continue checking in with him and to keep plugging Caroline because while she is a terrifying person, she at least loves with her heart.
Hearing his stomach growl, I realize we didn’t eat breakfast, or anything for that matter this morning and reach into my backpack to find a snack.
Feeling grateful for Ollie’s constant need to care for those around her and her little snack bag she packed us as if we were going to be driving across the state.
His stomach growls again, this time louder, as if it knows I’m looking for a snack. Cole clasps his hand over his stomach, trying to quiet it as I open the brown paper bag, finding not only a large supply of granola bars and sour gummy candy but also a small folded up piece of paper.
“Here, eat this before you turn into a monster,” I say, handing him a chocolate chip peanut butter granola bar.
My heart starts to beat faster as I look at the folded up piece of paper unsure of what to expect.
Part of me is terrified she’s changed her mind and wants to protect her heart while the other part of me is excited knowing it’s not.
My fingers fumble the paper as I attempt to unfold it, and I feel Cole’s side eye and judgement as he silently laughs at my new found clumsiness.
Hi :) I thought since letters kept us whole ten years ago, it would be fun to bring them back now.
And idk about you but I still have all those letters from boot camp, which might be embarrassing…
but whatever. I just wanted to say thanks for coming up with Cole this weekend and telling me the truth. <3 Ollie
I cannot help but smile knowing she kept the letters. Mine stay in the same keepsake box as Jarred’s tags and letter and I’d always reread them when feeling beaten down and broken from the military. Ollie’s been the only consistent factor keeping me sane through the years.