Chapter 7 Brynn
The vehicle rolled to a stop in front of an old brick house that I hadn’t thought of in twenty years but that I certainly
would have recognized at any time, in any context. Apart from the Atwater home, where Laila and I had most often joined Addie
for sleepovers, I had probably spent more time in that old brick house than I had anywhere else in town. Including my own
home, if I could help it.
Clarence and Hazel Olivet, Laila’s grandparents, had let us turn their attic into a clubhouse, and it had instantly become
the cool place for the stylish elementary set of Adelaide Springs to hang out. Andi Gardner, who was a few years older, would
get paid a buck or two to supervise when we were really young. She’d bring her little sister, Wray, who was a couple years
younger than us, and as long as we were nice to Wray, we could get away with pretty much anything.
Not that we ever tried anything too scandalous.
We’d make prank phone calls sometimes. On occasion we’d sneak one of Hazel’s romance novels up there with us—and truth be told, I guess those were sort of scandalous.
But we’d usually grow too shy and scared of getting caught to get engrossed in the really juicy parts.
We’d send Wray downstairs to fetch us snacks, and in exchange we’d let her try on our dress-up clothes.
Things had become slightly less innocent as we got older, but we never outgrew our fear of getting caught, so there were limits.
We’d sneak Wes and Cole up there when Clarence and Hazel weren’t around, which was a big no-no—not that they had any cause
for concern. At least not in middle school. In middle school the only off-limits thing we ever did with the boys was steal
homework answers. And let’s face it: by that time we’d all become quite skilled at cheating off each other. We didn’t need
to hide away in an attic to commit that particular misdeed. We were just as likely to do it right under Mrs. Stoddard’s nose
in class.
We tried playing spin the bottle once, but only Addie and Wes were comfortable kissing each other, so that hadn’t lasted long.
And the one time Cole and I tried to make out, in high school, it had been sitting under the eaves, with only the moonlight
cascading through the dormer window. It was the perfect setting for a first kiss, but the moment our lips touched, we dissolved
into a fit of childish giggles, thus ending the only realistic prospect of a grade-level romance that existed for either of
us.
I was startled out of my nostalgia by the grating creak of the driver’s side door opening.
“What are we doing here?”
Sebastian didn’t wait around to answer my question before slamming the door shut. Orly opened his and began climbing out just
as the tailgate opened. I turned around and sat on my knees to face Sebastian.
“Do the Olivets still live here? Am I staying with them?”
Hadn’t they been ancient then? Was it wise for them still to be navigating all those steps?
He looked up at me as he pulled out the bags. “Larry’s place is over on Elm.”
I shook my head. “No, not Larry. Clarence and Hazel. Larry’s parents.” Although it was interesting to know that Laila’s parents
still lived on Elm after all these years.
I received no further information. Only old metal slamming practically in my face.
“You coming, Brynn?” Orly asked.
I looked at him over my left shoulder. He had pulled the front seat forward and, unlike our driver, was leaving the door open
for me like a gentleman.
“I’ll be right there. I just need a minute.”
It all felt like such a whirlwind. It had only been... what? One hundred and fifty-five hours ago? Last Monday morning
had been the beginning of everything I had worked toward, and by Friday it was all falling apart.
I folded my arms on the back of the seat and rested my forehead against them. “You can do this.”
Okay, so I’d screwed up. Yes, yes... I’d been through all of that over and over again in my mind. There were other people
who screwed up worse than I did, but I was the only one America saw screwing up. Fine. I couldn’t undo it—I just had to fix it.
I probably hadn’t made it easier to fix by mistaking the city councilor for the pilot. Or, more accurately, by once again
revealing my true feelings about Adelaide Springs in front of a city councilor who seemed to hate me even before I gave him
some pretty good reasons to.
Strike two.
But since then hadn’t I been rather delightful? Sure, we’d had that whole awkward climbing-in-the-vehicle debacle, but that
was on him.
Except it wasn’t. Not entirely. Yes, he’d been the one to make it awkward, and he had definitely handled it much worse than I had, but I needed to do better.
I’d grown up in these mountains. I knew how to fish and hunt and camp and fend off bear attacks.
And sure, it had been a while since fishing entailed anything more than ordering the omakase sashimi from Sushi Yasuda on Forty-Third Street, but I had to do better.
There wasn’t any margin left for stupid mistakes.
From that moment on, I would be exactly who they wanted me
to be.
And who is that, exactly?
“I’m leaving now,” Sebastian said from the open passenger-side door. “Would you like to get out before I do, or are you planning
on sleeping in the back of the Bronco and taking your chances with hypothermia tonight?”
I raised my head, looked out the back window, and took one more deep breath. I just needed a little more fuel before I plastered
on the smile yet again.
“You’re leaving so soon?” I asked, turning around—smile firmly in place—and then climbing out. “So if the Olivets don’t live
here, why are we...” My voice trailed off as the wooden sign in front of the familiar old house answered my question. That’s
not to say there weren’t many more to follow.
The Inn Between.
“Oh... I didn’t know this was an inn now. That’s just...”
“Precious?” he asked.
I stood in front of him as he glared at me, and I heard my nervous, bubbly voice from the ride over play back to me.
We’d call that strike two and a half. I wouldn’t give him the opportunity to finish me off.
“Look, Mr. Sudworth, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Can we start again?”
I smiled at him as genuinely as I could.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was worthy of a genuine smile so much as, at that particular moment, I didn’t know if I was capable of one.
My face felt tight. Maybe because I was so tired.
Maybe because the wind that suddenly whipped past off the mountains made it feel like I’d just received a Botox injection.
Or maybe just because I was having a really difficult time figuring out what exactly I should be smiling about.
He sighed. “I guess that depends.”
“On?”
“Is there a point in it?”
I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”
“Is anything actually going to be different?” He looked behind him at the door and then back at me. “You don’t want to be
here.”
“That’s not true!” My voice had gotten a little too squeaky, but I thought that had mostly been believable. “I’m really excited to reunite with—”
“Who?”
“What?”
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Who are you really excited to reunite with? Who have you stayed in touch
with? Who have you attempted to stay in touch with?” He took a step toward me and lowered his voice. “Do you even know who lives here?”
“ Now ? Well, no.” Heat rose to my cheeks, probably from frustration with this guy who didn’t know anything about me but who was
taking terrible liberties. Nonetheless, I found myself almost grateful for the increased blood. Whatever had been causing
the freeze in my face, a thaw was imminent. “But I can hardly be held responsible for not knowing that an old couple’s house
was converted to an inn at some point over the course of the past twenty years.”
“Yeah, I don’t mean in the house. Do you know who lives in this town ? I’m just so curious about these anticipated reunions of yours.”
I admit, he got me a little on that one. “I, um...” The truth? I sort of just assumed I’m the only person who ever left. “Look, I don’t know why you’ve already decided you don’t like me—”
“Really?!” His laughter filled the air. “How do you not understand? I mean, is it possible? Are you seriously so out of touch
with, oh, I don’t know, any actual human emotions that you don’t understand how deeply you hurt the people of this town on
Friday?”
“I didn’t know that we’d come out of the commercial break.” Dang it. I hadn’t meant to say that. I knew how weak that was. I knew, as I’d just been reminding myself, that ultimately those facts
didn’t matter. I opened my mouth to do better, but he beat me to the punch.
“Yes. Obviously. And you didn’t know that I wasn’t the pilot. I get it. And if you hadn’t been caught, no harm would have
been done. If I had been the pilot rather than a city councilor, it would have been fine that you were rude and demeaning. Right?” Once again
I opened my mouth to respond, but this time I was glad I didn’t get the chance. The words didn’t seem to be there. “But you
were caught. And there isn’t a single person in Adelaide Springs who didn’t hear every single word you said about them.”
“It wasn’t really about them —”
“Oh, that I believe. It’s hard to imagine that you ever have a moment in your life that isn’t one hundred percent all about you .”
The heat in my cheeks was suddenly flooding my entire body. “Alright, that’s it! I tried to be nice. I tried to start over.
But I’ve had it with you.” The smirk that spread across his face just added fuel to my fire. “You were a jerk to me too. Before
I gave you any reason to be.”
“I shouldn’t have been a jerk. I do apologize for that. But you say I didn’t have a reason? My reason, Ms. Cornell, was that
I know who you are.”
“You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
“Are you kidding? I know all I need to know.”
“Oh yeah? Well, tell me. What do you know?”