Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Kendall
“Kendall!” Maisie exclaimed as she threw her arms around me. “You finally came!”
“I did,” I said, feeling a little sheepish.
I’d known—maybe not all, but many—of these women since elementary school.
Many of us had scattered during the college years.
Although I hadn’t gone that far geographically speaking, it had interrupted what patterns I’d had here just enough that slipping back in easily had felt fraught with difficulty.
“We are so glad you’re here,” Maisie added as she gestured me over to the table.
“I didn’t know anybody missed me,” I said, when Amelia pulled a chair out for me and patted the chair beside her.
“Sit.” Pausing, she took a bite of chips and salsa. I obediently sat. “You are one of us,” she added.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Born and bred in Alaska,” Amelia replied.
“Hey, I wasn’t born and bred in Alaska,” Farrah said as she sat down. “And, Alice and I are the ones who told Kendall about tonight.”
“We’re an inclusive group. Born and bred in Alaska. Moved to Alaska. Ran away from the law,” Casey said as she plunked down with a grin.
“Okay, that too,” Amelia said with a grin.
“Who ran away from the law?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Casey snorted as she held her hand up. “Sort of, but not really. It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll summarize it like this.
When my sister died, something totally sketchy happened, and I was trying to stay out of the way, so I took a long road trip and ended up here.
But it’s all cleared up now, and it’s good. ”
Luna arrived, promptly sitting down beside Casey and nudging her affectionately with her shoulder.
“Did you bring donuts?” Maisie called over.
Luna gestured over her shoulder to the counter. “Of course I did.”
“Oh, my God, we get them for free?” I asked, almost in disbelief.
Luna waggled her brows. “Only on card night. And, don’t tell anyone at the café.” She held her fingers to her lips.
I twisted my fingertips in front of my lips, as if turning a key. “Absolutely not. You found your calling. Where did you learn to bake, anyway?”
Luna rolled her eyes a little. “I learned in the RV.”
“That must have been a challenge.” I pondered the cramped kitchen options in an RV.
“It was a good challenge, because when I have the right equipment, it makes it even better,” Luna offered with a shrug.
“I still can’t believe your parents were RV influencers,” I added.
Luna’s eye roll was hard. “Oh, yeah. Didn’t love that for them, or me. I’m so glad to be here.”
“Yeah, and you and Parker are all happy and in looooove,” Casey drawled.
Luna’s cheeks turned pink. “We are.”
A few other women filtered in, and as I looked around the table, a funny feeling settled around my heart, almost an uncertain sense of belonging.
“So, Farrah finally badgered you into coming,” Alice said as she came walking in.
“Well, you and Farrah,” I pointed out dryly.
“Hey, no badgering,” Amelia said.
“Oh, Kendall wanted to be here. I’m confident of this,” Alice said. “Speaking of reacquainting ourselves, how are things with Jude?”
I wondered if Jude had said something to more people than I knew about us. “Uh, good. Why do you ask?
Farrah’s mouth dropped open, her brows hitching up to her hairline. “You didn’t realize that I was walking down the hall the other night when you guys were kissing?”
A blush blazed into my cheeks. I cleared my throat. “No, I guess I missed that,” I said slowly.
Maisie giggled as she sat down across from me and reached for some chips. “Shall we counsel you on your relationship? You and Jude have been besties since high school, according to my local sources. It’s not like this is a surprise.”
“Is it that obvious?” I looked around the table, almost in disbelief.
There was a round of nods, like a wave rippling over water. Casey patted me on the shoulder from where she sat beside me. “I didn’t even grow up with you, and it’s obvious.”
“How? What?” I sputtered.
“It’s the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him,” Maisie supplied helpfully.
I shook my head, letting out a sigh. “Wow.”
Amelia tilted her head to the side. “It’s obvious that you’re both into each other, so at least you don’t have to worry about that awkwardness.”
“What do you mean?” I pressed.
“Well, if you were really into him, and he wasn’t really into you…” she added.
I reached for a chip, loaded it up with salsa, and stuffed it in my mouth. “I cannot believe what an idiot I am,” I said after I finished chewing.
“You’re not an idiot,” Chloe’s voice reached me as she came walking into the kitchen with Elsa.
“Oh, God,” I muttered before stuffing another chip with salsa in my mouth.
“I have also noticed that you and Jude are both totally into each other,” Chloe offered as she slipped out of her jacket and hung it over the back of a chair.
Elsa’s smile was warm and understanding. “You love Jude. Jude loves you. Just be happy. Even Tommy is aware of this. The rest of the world has just been waiting for you and Jude to figure your shit out.”
I sighed again. I was all about the sighs tonight. I felt ridiculous. All this time, I thought I’d been so successfully masking my feelings for Jude, and, apparently, everybody knew about them.
“It’s not like I didn’t know I had feelings for him,” I began. “I just want to point that out, but I didn’t want to mess our friendship up, and I still don’t want to mess our friendship up.”
“I think friendship is an excellent foundation for a strong relationship,” Chloe pointed out.
“Don’t go asking me for expert advice because my only serious relationship was an utter disaster of epic proportions.
But I still say friendship is really important, because even if everything else goes away, at least you like each other. ”
“Exactly,” Maisie said firmly.
“So what should I do?” I asked the group at large.
“Who you should do is Jude,” Casey offered with a sly grin and a dramatic brow waggle.
My cheeks were burning up, and I let out a sigh. “Seriously?”
“I’m kind of joking, but I’m as serious as I am joking,” Casey replied. “I’m very happy with Leo, but those Silver boys…” She let out a low whistle. “Elsa knows what I mean.”
Now, Elsa was blushing and giggling. I rolled my eyes as I looked amongst the group. “I’m not going to argue the point that those Silver boys are handsome. I mean, who would?”
“Exactly,” Casey agreed. “You’re not going to mess up your friendship with Jude, because that is rock solid.”
“Here’s a thought,” Farrah chimed in.
Alice flashed a grin. “Do tell.”
“You could have a conversation with him. Crazy, I know, but you can actually talk with him about it,” Farrah pointed out.
“We have—” I began.
Elsa’s mouth dropped open before she cut in. “Ohhhh, so things are further along than you’re letting on?”
I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking over at her. “Okay, maybe. But now I’m kind of in a panic.”
Elsa must have read what was in my expression because she leaned over and gave me a side hug.
“Honey, it’s going to be fine. Jude is a good man, and he adores you.
He’s not the kind of guy to use you and then stop being your friend.
You are going to figure it out, and it’s going to be amazing.
And, finally, the rest of the town doesn’t have to wonder when you two are going to figure it out and stop being ‘just friends’,” she said, complete with air quotes.