Chapter 12 #3
She hated to see Hallie sad, but she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t felt undeniably closer to her on New Year’s Eve, when Hallie had come home and spoken so candidly about her life and her struggles with her family.
It had made her so real to Brynn, in a way that had opened the door for everything between them that had come after.
“I like the way that you see me.” Hallie’s words were so quiet, it would have been easy to miss them in the din of the brewery.
“I didn’t want to explain to you how embarrassing my date was, mostly because Ruby looked at me like I was the biggest loser on planet Earth.
Including,” Hallie stressed seriously, “if we’re also counting 2025 PN7,” the name of the quasi-moon that had been discovered earlier in the year.
Brynn’s whole face flushed with color, and suddenly, it was like everyone else in the building disappeared.
She leaned into Hallie, their shoulders brushing together, and tingles shot down her arm.
“I knew that you were a big nerd on the inside,” she said before adding, “And anyone who doesn’t see you the way I do obviously has terrible taste in women. ”
Hallie’s face broke into a smile that made Brynn’s heart skip a beat. “Suddenly an expert after a whole month of dating?”
“I’ve had a pretty excellent guide,” Brynn said as she willed Hallie to stay close to her. Physically and emotionally.
They were turning down the last row of vendors when Hallie stopped short, an uneasy look on her face. “Um… maybe I’ll grab another drink. Do you want one?”
Brynn looked over at Hallie’s half-full glass. It was a strange amount to drink if she didn’t actually like the beer. “Is something wrong?”
Hallie suddenly grew smaller, her eyes downcast, which made Brynn intently scan the rest of the space, especially the last row of vendors, where they had yet to wander.
That was when Brynn locked on Ruby, whom she recognized from her dating profile pictures. Her guess had been right. Even in the dead of winter, Ruby was wearing a tank top.
Hallie’s tense voice pulled Brynn’s attention back to her. “I didn’t even consider that she’d be here. Probably because I assumed it was so beneath her.”
Anger on Hallie’s behalf swept through Brynn. Forcefully. So much so that her hand not holding a beer clenched into a fist.
Who in their right mind would make Hallie feel badly about literally anything?
Sometimes, Brynn had these moments of clarity.
At least, that’s how she referred to them in her head.
They happened when everything slowed down and an answer became painfully obvious, like all the data points that she’d known but hadn’t yet connected lined up in a row, and she could see the big picture.
Usually, it only happened when she was trying to understand a new concept, but most recently, it had been happening in other areas of her life, too.
Grant, earlier this year, had been the first time that she’d experienced it in a relationship, but even then, it had taken Reese pointing her in the right direction. Looking at his phone hadn’t made her feel good, but she knew that he’d never admit the truth to her.
And then she’d found, once she’d gone looking, the dating app.
The messages with dozens of women. But worse than either of those was when she’d looked at his texts and had gotten a front row seat for how he talked about her to his friends.
Like she was nothing more than Grant’s ticket to ascending the Devereux family throne.
At her rehearsal dinner, it was the one thing that she hadn’t mentioned in her presentation.
She’d felt the strangest sense of calm once she’d discovered the extent of his cheating. Like she’d been suspended in time. Leading up to the wedding, she was in a state of zen that she’d never experienced before.
Just like right now, as everything slowed down around her. All she could see was Hallie. And all Brynn could think about was wiping that distressed look off her face.
Because good people didn’t deserve to be treated poorly, and Brynn was going to do what she could to even the odds in an unjust world. In all her years of studying philosophy and science and math, it was a simple truth that she’d discovered, a north star that guided her.
She grabbed Hallie’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “Let’s look at the last row of vendors. I’m right here with you.”
There was only a moment of hesitation before Hallie fell into step with her. “This feels like a terrible idea.”
Brynn shrugged and focused her attention on the first table, keeping Hallie close. She wasn’t especially interested in abstract art, also with vague sea motifs, but she spent at least a minute checking out the pieces.
“Do you like these?” Hallie finally whispered, her breath tickling Brynn’s ear.
Indulging in the intimacy of the moment, Brynn tilted her head, their lips so close that it would only take pressing forward a few inches to close the gap. “Not really,” she said at the same time she smiled.
Brynn liked this version of herself. A woman who wasn’t scared.
Who leaned into what felt good and didn’t overanalyze every possibility.
She liked it so much that she put her beer down on the table and used her now-free hand to run her fingers along Hallie’s cheek.
Hallie let out an audible exhale, her eyes going wide.
“Brynn?” she questioned, but she didn’t move away.
Brynn felt a thrumming in her chest that only picked up in intensity when she said, “If this was our first date, I would want you to know that you were acing it.”
Because god, did she wish that she was on a real date with Hallie right now. Then she could lean forward and kiss those lips that looked so incredibly soft. And run her hands through Hallie’s hair while her thumb stroked up and down Hallie’s defined jaw in a soothing line.
The desire to touch was so overwhelming that she almost gave in to it, a persistent need building low in her stomach and radiating outward.
But she stopped herself when she saw the confusion warring on Hallie’s face. She let out a long exhale, their breath mingling together when Hallie said, “You’re pretty much perfect, Brynn. You know that, right?”
Brynn smiled and gave Hallie’s cheek one last indulgent stroke before she dropped her hand. She had been feeling that way lately, in large part because of Hallie and the space that she’d given Brynn to open into without fear.
She couldn’t deny herself the pleasure of grabbing Hallie’s hand again, but Hallie was the one to lace their fingers together this time.
Tilting her head toward the next table, Brynn allowed herself a full-fledged smile so vibrant it made her cheeks hurt. “Let’s finish checking out the vendors?”
Hallie looked like she was about to say something, but she nodded and bit her lip, which stirred up a whole new round of feelings in Brynn.
They checked out the next few tables, not talking much. They were both keenly aware that they were heading closer to the source of Hallie’s anxiety. And if Brynn hadn’t known it, she could feel it, Hallie’s hand tightening around hers.
When they were only a table away, Brynn stopped at the vendor, one that she’d noticed when they’d walked in. A thrill of anticipation rushed through her. She was excited for what was about to happen. “I love these hats. Did you make them?”
The woman behind the table, who looked to be in her mid-fifties and was wearing a flannel and a pair of jeans, stepped forward and smiled.
“I did. I’m Kathy, and my wife, Susan, makes all the games in her workshop.
” She looked lovingly at a woman with short-cropped hair and a very similar, if not identical, flannel, who was standing at the table on the other side of Ruby, talking to the vendor there.
Turning her attention back to Brynn, Kathy added, “We’ve been doing this as a passion project for, oh, about a decade at this point.
We own the kayak rental shop on the water, but this helps tide us over through winter. ”
Brynn smiled back. “I love them. Everything’s gorgeous.”
One side of the table was filled with knitted caps in the shape of animals.
A frog. A lion. A penguin. A shark. A least half a dozen other animals, with multiples of each style.
Brynn really did love them all, and she knew of a place that would have dozens of kids who’d love them, too.
Along with the beautiful wooden games like tic-tac-toe, Connect Four, checkers, and chess.
The inn could probably use a full set of the games, now that she was thinking about it.
“Well, feel free to take a look at anything. I’m not exactly great at the hard sell, but everything is completely handmade locally.”
Hallie, up until this point, had been relatively quiet. “Are you thinking about getting something?” she asked Brynn.
Brynn looked over at her, smiling playfully. “I’m getting them all.”
It was by virtue of that smile that Hallie probably thought she was joking, laughing as she responded, “Sure. Because you need close to fifty hats and”—Brynn watched her counting the games—“a few dozen board games.”
Which was a great point. She turned her attention back to Kathy. “Do you have additional stock of anything not with you today? Or can I commission additional pieces?”
Kathy’s eyes went wide at the same time Hallie’s elbow pushed lightly into Brynn’s side. “What are you doing?” Hallie asked, clearly confused.
“I’m supporting a local business.” Being intentionally obtuse could be sort of fun, especially when Hallie’s brows furrowed at her.
The only tragedy was that, for the next part, Brynn had to let go of Hallie’s hand.
But it was worth it as she walked by Ruby, who’d started to clock that something was happening, before stopping at her neighbor’s table.
“Susan? Could I bother you for a second? I’m talking with Kathy, and I wanted your input on the games. You make them, right?”