Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Brynn could lead by example. At least, that’s what she told herself while getting ready for her date on Thursday afternoon.
Now that Hallie was officially splitting shifts with her again, Brynn had taken the day to drive to Boston.
She’d needed to pick up some extra clothing from home, but the more pressing motive was to put in some face time with her parents.
She had a sixth sense when it came to them, and she could feel that they were about a hair’s breadth away from popping into The Stone’s Throw unannounced.
And she’d been right, given that her dad had shown up in Stoneport on Tuesday anyway, under the guise of having a meeting with Reese.
Brynn had joined them for lunch, along with Sydney, where her dad had shed a few tears when he’d been told about the engagement.
The whole day had been very Stan Fitzpatrick: Crying.
Lunch at a seafood restaurant, which he insisted on paying for.
So many hugs for Brynn—and Sydney and Reese—that she’d had to check once he’d left that she hadn’t cracked a rib.
But in the here and now, she had other things to focus on.
She pulled on her sweater and smoothed down the soft material, her fingers fidgeting against the fabric.
It wasn’t that she was nervous exactly, but she’d never been on a date with someone she hadn’t already met in person.
So, it wasn’t exactly a blind date, but it was pretty darn close.
She was going to put on a little makeup and then have Hallie psych her up on the way out the door.
They’d decided on a coffee date at a local café, which was perfect for Brynn.
She knew Stoneport better than any of the surrounding areas, and though Hallie’s speech about drinks versus dinner as the perfect first date was less serious than her “never go to a second location” talk, she’d made sure to rebuff the dinner suggestion when it had been offered.
Insofar as boxes went, Jake was checking all of them. Brynn just sort of took people as they came, but she was learning in the world of high-stakes online dating, there was a fairly rigorous amount of information to be gleaned ahead of a first meeting.
Jake, she knew from their messages back and forth, texted in almost full sentences.
His profile said that he was gainfully employed, which Brynn had learned, by way of him mentioning his role in pharmaceutical sales, actually seemed to be true.
Per his photos, he liked to rock climb and volunteered at a local animal shelter.
Of all her matches and messages over the last five days, he was the only one who’d made it to the final meeting-in-person stage.
She opened up the small makeup bag on her bathroom counter, in one of the two bedrooms in the owner’s quarters.
It hadn’t really made sense for her to move back to one of the guest rooms after the guest from the Christmas period checked out.
Especially not since winter sports season was starting to pick up and The Stone’s Throw was only a short drive from a few of the smaller mountains in the area.
In her defense, she’d tried to pay for one of those guest rooms, giving Hallie an out, but she also wasn’t going to pretend that she wasn’t pleased as punch that Hallie had waved her off and insisted that she stay right where she was.
Brynn had never had a roommate before, unless you counted her parents. There was something exciting about living with another adult, especially another woman with whom she could veg out on the sofa after work, lamenting the ridiculous requests of some guests.
She could be her whole self, warts and all.
It was, she was learning, okay to have a bad day or not constantly be a ray of sunshine.
If anything, Hallie called Brynn out for her blind optimism, especially when it was leading Brynn down what would probably become a chaotic path.
But having lived with her parents for so long, it was the only way she really knew how to be.
She and Hallie had settled into a rhythm over the past week, which Brynn was loving.
They had opposite days off, so during the day, Brynn would visit her parents, text with Gregory, or casually peruse teaching positions for the upcoming school year—though the availability of those, especially in philosophy departments, was scant.
After they were both home in the apartment, depending on who was working, they’d either order in or cook dinner, sometimes in the apartment and sometimes in the inn’s kitchen, before settling onto the sofa to start working through a variety of shows.
Hallie, she’d also learned, loved to talk about what she was watching.
A forty-five-minute episode could take them more than double the time to get through, just because one of them was always hitting the pause button with commentary or a question posed to the other.
It was the practical application of philosophy in its most human form, and Brynn relished every second of it.
But life with a roommate was… fun. Brynn felt way more comfortable with Hallie than she usually felt with people.
In her adult life, it always felt like she was trying and failing to fit in.
With her friends in college, who hadn’t exactly shown up for her when she needed them to.
And then in her PhD program, where it was way too cutthroat for her cohort to truly let one another in.
She thought it would get better once she was with Grant, but trying to assimilate into his friend group was the worst of all.
They were always attending fancy dinners at pretentious and popular restaurants and loud clubs, with a revolving door of women on the arms of his friends. To top it all off, they must have known about his relationship with Sydney, which caused a prickle of anger that flushed her cheeks.
But Grant was in the past, she reminded herself. And even if she sometimes regretted how low she’d sunk in outing his infidelity in such a public way, she couldn’t exactly feel badly about the whole situation.
As Hallie had told her repeatedly, he’d reaped what he’d sowed.
Which brought her to a far more pressing thought over the past few days.
When it came to her and Hallie, only one of them was putting on their big girl pants and following through on their commitments.
To be fair to Hallie, Brynn was one of those people who, once she got an idea in her head, couldn’t let it go.
And now that she’d decided dating was that idea, she was fixated on seeing it through.
She knew, on some level, that people responded to life in different ways, which was why she was trying not to feel anything even close to annoyance toward Hallie.
Since her date was in the early afternoon, she’d gone light on her makeup, opting for a soft, natural look. Makeup, like color palettes, was something she’d been able to study and learn to apply to herself.
As she fanned her blush brush across her cheek, she thought about Hallie, who was currently out working the front desk.
She didn’t understand where Hallie’s resistance was coming from.
She was young. Beautiful. And, by Hallie’s own admission, with Brynn working at The Stone’s Throw, she had more free time available to her.
Brynn didn’t really understand why it bothered her so much that Hallie wasn’t as excited—or as fixated—on dating as she was. Probably because it made Brynn feel a bit silly to be putting so much effort into what largely amounted to a gamified way to meet people.
Still, Brynn hated a missed opportunity. The stars were aligning for Hallie Thatcher to achieve what she professed to want. Which, as far as Brynn could discern, was to get more of a social life.
And Brynn could think of no one more deserving to have the life they dreamed about.
She glanced down at her watch. If she didn’t leave soon, she’d miss the scheduled meeting time.
Somehow, she’d just been staring blankly into the mirror for the last few minutes, thinking through how her life was currently a mix of contentment and excitement, something she’d never come close to having before.
She didn’t want to be late, of course, but there was also no way that she was leaving without talking to Hallie first.
She booked it out of the bathroom and into the living room, where her coat was on the hook next to the front door. The kitchen was quiet as she walked by the double doors, with breakfast having come and gone.
Hallie was deep in conversation with two guests and didn’t spot her as she came around the corner.
And she just looked so in her element, Brynn decided.
Hallie’s elbow was resting on the check-in desk, holding a brochure as she pointed to whatever she was telling the two guests about.
Probably some of the indoor activities local to the area, which Brynn knew Hallie preferred over any nature-related adventures.
As the guests started walking away, Hallie noticed her. Anyone breaking into a smile like the one directed at Brynn just then, especially Hallie, made her pick up her pace to cover the distance over to the desk.
Hallie’s smile didn’t temper. If anything, it picked up in wattage as Brynn drew closer. “I feel like I should take a picture or something to commemorate this moment, like it’s your first day of school.”
Brynn rolled her eyes, but she knew that she was wearing a matching smile. “My parents would probably love it if you sent them a copy. Truly.”
“Are we thinking wallet-sized, or will it be framed on the wall?” Hallie asked, leaning across the desk.
“Both,” Brynn admitted, laughing. It felt good to joke about how overbearing her parents were, which was something she didn’t usually do.
Hallie’s voice dropped into a more earnest tone. “How are you feeling?”
Brynn tried to wave off the question, even as she could feel heat splotching her cheeks. “I’m a little excited.” She paused before adding, “A little nervous.”