37. Annette
Chapter thirty-seven
Annette
Coming Home
For the first time in longer than I can remember...
I have absolutely nowhere that I'm supposed to be.
No lecture waiting to begin.
No clinical rotation.
No hospital shift.
No suitcase sitting open on the bed because another assignment starts in forty-eight hours.
Just...
today.
The realization still feels wonderfully strange.
I curl a little deeper into the wicker chair on the front porch of the Briar Cove Inn, tucking one foot beneath me as I balance a mug of coffee in one hand and an unread novel in the other.
The lake stretches out before me, sunlight dancing across the water while a pair of kayakers drift lazily toward the opposite shore.
I've turned exactly three pages in the last twenty minutes. Not because the book isn't good. Because my thoughts keep wandering.
Finished. The word still doesn't quite seem real.
***
A week ago, I signed the last of the paperwork. Yesterday the final confirmation arrived that everything had been accepted. In two weeks, I'll officially begin my position with the Frostholm Blizzards' sports medical department.
A real job. A dream job!
Not another rotation. Not another temporary assignment.
Home.
It's funny. For years my entire life has been measured in semesters and rotations. Every few months there was another city, another apartment, another beginning.
I became very good at living out of suitcases and very good at telling myself not to get attached.
Now...
for the first time...
I'm unpacking.
Mrs. Donnelly, the owner of the inn, waters the flower baskets along the porch rail and smiles when she reaches me. "You look peaceful today."
I glance up.
"I think I finally am."
She nods as though she'd expected exactly that answer. "I've been waiting for you to figure it out."
I laugh.
"Were you?"
"Oh, yes." She continues watering bright red geraniums. "The first week you arrived here, you looked like someone trying to outrun tomorrow."
"And now?"
She studies me for a moment before smiling. "Now you look like you've decided to stay awhile."
The words settle softly around me.
Stay awhile.
I suppose I have. Not just in Briar Cove. In this life.
***
A car horn sounds from the parking lot.
Once.
Then twice.
Curious, I glance toward the drive.
A silver rental car has just pulled into one of the visitor spaces.
The driver's door swings open.
A familiar woman with dark curls, oversized sunglasses, and a grin wide enough to light the entire porch climbs out.
For one completely ridiculous second, I simply stare, then I launch myself out of the chair.
"Keisha!"
She barely has time to shut the car door before I throw my arms around her.
She laughs, hugging me just as tightly.
"What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like?"
"I...you..." I step back just enough to look at her. "You're supposed to be three states away."
"I was."
She shrugs.
"But now I’m visiting my best friend."
I laugh. "You flew halfway across the country just to visit?"
"Of course I did."
She shrugs. “You finally stopped living out of a suitcase. I wanted to see where life found you." She looks around Briar Cove before smiling at me. "Now I understand."
I shake my head, still smiling too hard to form coherent sentences.
"You didn't tell me you were coming."
"That would have ruined the surprise."
"It absolutely would have."
She studies me for a long moment before her grin softens. "I came because I missed you."
Emotion catches me completely off guard.
Keisha squeezes my shoulders.
"I wouldn't have missed seeing you for the world."
Mrs. Donnelly watches us from the porch with an approving smile.
"I'll assume this young lady is staying for lunch."
Keisha turns immediately. "If there's pie involved, absolutely."
Mrs. Donnelly laughs. "I like her already."
***
After lunch with plenty of pie, we're sitting outside one of my favorite little coffee shop overlooking the lake, steaming mugs between us.
Keisha leans back in her chair.
"So..."
She folds her arms. "Tell me everything."
I laugh. "I have absolutely no idea where to start."
"Good."
"That usually means life has been interesting."
It has. Only not in the ways I expected. We spend the next half hour catching up on everything except the biggest parts.
She tells me about the hospital where she's working now.
I tell her stories from Idaho.
She complains about impossible parking.
I tell her about graduation.
We laugh about professors we'd both sworn secretly survived on caffeine and intimidation.
She fills me in on mutual friends.
I realize how much I've missed hearing her laugh in person instead of through a phone speaker.
Somewhere between our second cups of coffee and mooning over the blueberry muffins, she grows quiet.
She studies me over the rim of her mug.
She smiles gently. "You used to call me after exams."
"I remember."
"You'd tell me how many chapters you still had to study."
I laugh. "That sounds exhausting."
"It was."
She points toward me. "Today we've talked about Briar Cove."
I nod.
"The bakery."
Another nod.
"Coach."
"Mm-hmm."
"Becca."
"The lake."
"The little bookstore."
I smile.
"The coffee shop."
She leans forward. "And not one exam."
The words make me pause.
I wrap both hands around my mug, letting its warmth seep into my fingers.
For a long moment I simply watch the sunlight dancing across the lake.
Then I smile. "I think..." My voice comes out softer than I expect. "I think I'm finally finished surviving."
Neither of us speaks. I don't think she needs to. She knows exactly what I mean.
For years every decision has been about getting through the next assignment.
The next semester. The next rotation. The next test.
Always moving. Always preparing. Always surviving.
Now...I'm finally starting to live.
***
Keisha breaks off a piece of blueberry muffin and points it at me.
"So..."
I know that look. "What?"
She smiles. "What's next?"
I lean back in my chair, watching a sailboat drift lazily across the lake. For a moment, I don't answer.
It isn't because I don't know. It's because saying it out loud somehow makes it real.
"I accepted a position."
Her eyebrows rise. "You did?"
I nod.
"With the Frostholm Blizzards."
For just a second, she simply stares at me. Then the biggest smile spreads across her face.
"Annette!"
She reaches across the table and grabs both of my hands. "I'm so proud of you."
I laugh as she squeezes my fingers. "I start in two weeks.”
"So..."
Her grin turns wonderfully mischievous. "You're staying."
The words leave my mouth before I've even thought about them. "I guess I am."
Silence settles between us.
Not awkward.
Just full.
I look back toward the lake.
Toward the town square.
Toward everything this little town has quietly become.
"I don't think I've ever been happier."
The admission surprises me. Mostly because it's true. For so many years, happiness always seemed to live somewhere in the future. I'd spent so much time chasing "someday" that I almost missed today.
Keisha studies me for a long moment.
"You know what I think? I think you've stopped looking over your shoulder."
I blink. "What do you mean?"
"You’ve always had one foot out the door."
I frown thoughtfully. "I did?"
"Oh, absolutely."
She laughs. "You never bought real furniture. You never unpacked completely. You never let yourself belong anywhere."
Her words settle gently over me.
Because she isn't wrong. Every apartment had been temporary. Every assignment had an ending. Every goodbye came with another map folded inside my suitcase.
I stare into my coffee. "I guess I got used to leaving."
"And now?"
A smile slowly finds its way across my face.
"I think I'm finally ready to stay."
***
Just then a familiar voice calls from behind us.
"Well...if it isn't my favorite troublemaker."
I turn, smiling. It’s Coach’s wife.
"Becca!"
She balances two bakery boxes against one hip while making her way toward our table.
"I’m delivering cinnamon rolls to the bookstore."
She sets the boxes down on the empty chair.
"Then someone at the bakery told me your friend Keisha was in town."
Keisha stands to hug her.
"It's so good to meet you."
"You too. Annette has talked about you so much I feel like I know you, at least a little bit."
Becca settles into the third chair without the slightest hesitation.
"I hope you don't mind me crashing girls' coffee."
"We were just saying how much we wished you were here," I lie shamelessly.
She laughs. "Good answer."
For a while the conversation wanders everywhere: the summer festival, the bookstore's new reading corner, Coach's latest attempt to fix their squeaky porch swing and the bakery's endless experiments with blueberry muffins.
Nothing important. Everything important.
It's amazing how quickly ordinary conversation begins to feel extraordinary when you're sitting with people who make you feel known.
At one point Becca wraps both hands around her coffee and smiles at me.
"You know something I've noticed?"
"What?"
"Jamie laughs now."
I smile automatically. "He always laughed."
She shakes her head. "No."
A gentle smile touches her face. "He smiled for people."
The distinction catches me. "He wanted everyone around him to be okay. Especially after hard losses."
***
Becca glances at the clock above the bakery counter across the street and groans.
"I promised I'd be back fifteen minutes ago."
Keisha laughs, and I say that I'll tell Brooke you were detained by important girl talk.
"She'll believe you."
Becca stands and leans over to hug me.
"I'm really glad you're staying."
"So am I."
She smiles warmly. "I had a feeling you would."
With one last wave, she heads toward the bookstore, disappearing inside just as another customer walks through the door.
Keisha watches her go.
"I like her."
"So do I."
"No..." She smiles knowingly. "I mean, I really like her."
"I know."
We begin walking slowly toward the inn, taking the long route along the lake instead of the sidewalk through town. Neither of us speaks for several minutes. The breeze carries the scent of pine and fresh water. It's one of those perfect summer afternoons that asks absolutely nothing of anyone.
Keisha slips her sunglasses onto her head.
"So..."
She hooks her arm through mine. "Tell me honestly."
"What?"
She looks sideways at me. "Is he everything you hoped he'd be?"
I smile. "No."
She stops walking. "No?"
I shake my head. "He's more."
For a moment she simply watches me. Then a slow smile spreads across her face.
"I was wondering when you'd finally admit it."
I laugh softly. "I don't think I really understood it myself."
"You do now?"
"I used to think love was butterflies."
Keisha waits.
"I thought it was excitement...or grand gestures...or never wanting to be apart."
"And now?"
I don't answer immediately, because the truth isn't dramatic. It's quieter than that.
"It's peace."
The words settle gently between us.
"Peace?"
I nod. "It's knowing someone is in your corner before you even ask."
I smile to myself. "It's walking into a room and never wondering whether you're enough."
"It's sitting in comfortable silence."
"It's knowing that no matter how hard the day gets..."
I glance toward Frostholm in the distance.
"...there's one person I can't wait to tell about it."
Keisha doesn't say anything for a long moment. Then she slips her arm through mine again. "I've never heard you sound like this before."
"Like what?"
"Like you are home."
The single word catches me completely off guard.
Home.
I look around at the lake, the hills, and the little shops lining Main Street.
Then I smile. “I am.”
**
By the time Keisha leaves the next morning, the inn parking lot feels quieter than it did yesterday.
She hugs me one last time before climbing into her rental car.
She smiles. "I'm really happy for you."
Emotion catches unexpectedly in my throat. "Thank you for coming."
"There isn't anywhere else I wanted to be."
I wait until her car disappears around the bend before walking slowly back inside. The porch creaks beneath my feet as I climb the steps to my room.
I rest one hand lightly against the window frame. Home.
Not the inn. Not even Briar Cove.
Home is wherever the people you love are waiting.
I smile to myself.
Funny...
After years of always wondering what came next...for the first time in my life...I don't feel the need to know.