Chapter 14
Fourteen
Reegan
Two days after Ashlyn saw Rob with someone else, she decided she was over him. “For good,” she declared as she got ready for work.
I knew it was bullshit, but I was not going to call her on it. I was there to be supportive, and if that meant going along with the lie she wanted to tell herself, I was going to do it.
“Good for you,” I said, sitting on her bed as she got ready. It felt like being in college again. Sitting on her bed while she got ready to go to class or on a date. She always did the same for me. For dates, not for class because she was never up early enough.
“It is good. I’m ready to move on. We should go out tonight. There’s a great bar on the water, amazing views. It’s sophisticated and classy. Like us.”
I grinned. “Sounds good. Although I might need to borrow something to wear. I didn’t pack for sophisticated or classy.”
“I have options.” She looked at me as if just noticing something. “You look different the last few days.”
My cheeks heated. I still hadn’t confessed that I was getting to know her next-door neighbor. I promised Josh I would, but Ashlyn had been so down, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about my new romance when her latest one was still smoldering. And not the good kind of smolder.
“Have I been that bad?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and shrugged, hiding her expression from me, which meant she was bordering on tears again. “I know you came here to help me get over Rob, but I didn’t want to ruin your entire summer with my sadness.”
I unfolded my legs and got off her bed. I waited until she lifted her gaze to mine before I spoke. “You are not ruining anything. You are entitled to your sadness. And Rob is an asshole who deserves a constant case of jock-itch and unrepentant halitosis.”
Ashlyn snorted. “I love you.”
I hugged my bestie tight. “I love you. You deserve someone who will see how amazing you are, and I am not at all upset to be here to remind you of that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She released me, drawing a full breath, then shaking off her melancholy with her exhale. “You are my favorite person.”
“And you’re mine.”
She smiled and left her room, heading for the coffeepot that was still full. “You didn’t have any coffee today again?”
I did, but I had it with Josh. After we had sex in her Adirondack chair under a blanket that would need to be washed if we kept meeting like we were in the mornings.
Totally worth it.
“I have been enjoying my mornings outside too much to think about coffee,” I said, hoping she bought the lie.
“Are you going to have some now? I can make less. I don’t want you to feel like you have to drink it.”
I shook my head and poured myself a mug, emptying the pot. “I might drink a little less going forward, but I won’t give it up completely.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
I nodded, taking a sip as she grabbed her lunch from the fridge and an apple.
“I’m excited about tonight,” she said. “You’re going to love Pour Standards. I’m going to try to leave work early so we can get there before it gets too busy. There’s a bar on the top floor, but we can have dinner before we go to the rooftop.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Ashlyn waved and hurried out the door, leaving me to my guilt about not telling her about Josh. Again.
“Wow,” I breathed as we walked into Pour Standards.
“Right?” Ashlyn gushed. “I love it here. It’s my favorite place to come when I need to celebrate or treat myself.”
“And which are we doing tonight?” Sage asked from Ashlyn’s other side.
“Both,” Ashlyn said. She stepped forward to the hostess stand.
“Welcome to Pour Standards. How many tonight?” the hostess asked.
“Four,” Ashlyn said.
“I’m here, I’m here!” a woman said from behind us.
I turned with Ashlyn and Sage. They hugged Zuri, our fourth for the night. Zuri was a local historian and knew everything there was to know about Amethyst Bay, according to Ashlyn. Zuri smiled warmly at me and hugged me after Ashlyn and Sage.
“I’m so happy to meet you, Reegan. I’ve heard so much about you.” Zuri smelled like sunshine and grass, and I liked her immediately.
“Same. It’s so nice to meet you, Zuri.” She grabbed my hand and tucked it in her arm to walk together as we followed the others to our table.
“Thank you for being there for Ash the last few weeks. Summer is crazy around here, and I have not been available anywhere near as much as I’d like,” Zuri said softly. “I hate that she got so wrapped up in that jerk.”
“Me, too,” I told her, loving that Ashlyn had friends in Amethyst Bay who loved her as much as I did.
“My treat tonight,” Ashlyn said as we all took seats.
“Not a chance,” Sage said.
“I was going to treat everyone,” Zuri argued.
“I’m overruling all of you,” I said, meeting the gaze of our server. “I’m paying for everything tonight.”
“Then I’m buying drinks upstairs,” Zuri insisted. “No more arguments.”
I nodded at her. She winked back, and I knew Zuri was not someone people fought often. She had a quiet strength and a calm exterior. She was the perfect balance of chill and fierce.
“You guys are amazing,” Ashlyn said.
“My treat next time,” Sage said.
“You treat us all the time,” Zuri argued. “Let me pay for once. Without an argument.”
Sage sighed. “Fine. And thank you.”
“You are welcome,” Zuri said. “Appetizers?”
We talked as we looked at the menu, choosing things we all wanted to try and agreeing to share everything. The server brought our first round of drinks, and I knew I was going to be back at Pour Standards before the end of summer.
Sage, Zuri, and Ashlyn clearly spent a lot of time together. They had inside jokes that they shared with me and made me feel like I had known them as long as they’d known each other.
Friendship was a big part of what I’d been missing in MacKellar Cove, and being there with Ashlyn and her friends hit home that it was time for me to move on. I made the decision before we ordered dessert to start looking for a job in Amethyst Bay.
I was ready to start over.
“Why don’t we come here more often?” Sage asked as I signed the bill.
“Right? It’s amazing. And sharing all the meals was a great idea,” Zuri said, grabbing my arm. “I always order the same thing, but I have a new favorite thanks to you.”
I laughed. “I have four favorites.”
“Seriously. Everything was amazing.” Sage groaned. “But I want another drink. Are we going upstairs?”
“Heck yes,” Zuri said. “I’m buying. Don’t forget.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “As if you’d let me.”
The two of them started for the stairs on the other side of the restaurant. Ashlyn and I followed them a little more slowly.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah. I needed this, but…” She shrugged.
“You’re still sad.”
She swallowed roughly. “Yeah.”
“That’s to be expected. You dated him for a long time. He broke your heart. You’re not going to be over him in a few weeks.”
“Not like he’s over me.”
“Men are different. You know that.”
She rested her head on my shoulder for a minute. “You’re right. Thanks for being here.”
“I’m really enjoying it. More than you know.”
“It’s a pretty great town, isn’t it? Maybe you can come back next summer. No heartbreak required.”
I laughed and followed her up the stairs. “Maybe I will.”
At the top of the stairs, the rooftop bar opened up to showcase the view of Lake Champlain even better than downstairs.
From the restaurant, it felt like we were sitting on a beach.
The water stretched out in front of us and sparkled in the setting sun.
On the rooftop, it was like floating. You had to look over the edge to see the land around us.
Water was everywhere, and with the sun sinking behind us over the mountains, it was stunning.
The water glittered, the amethyst color that gave the bay its name less prominent on the open water of the lake, but still adding depth to the water.
“Wow,” I gasped.
“Right?” Ashlyn had stopped to wait for my reaction, smiling at the look on my face. “This is why I like coming here.”
“This is amazing. I haven’t seen a view like this since I’ve been here.”
“Yeah, it’s so peaceful.”
I drew a deep breath and nodded. Sage and Zuri were already at the bar, and Sage was grinning at the bartender.
“He’s cute,” I said to Ashlyn, wondering about the story there.
She smirked. “Sage has had a thing for him forever. Wellington is either completely oblivious or has no idea how to take her.”
“Why doesn’t she ask him out?”
“For all her bravado, Sage is still unsure about men. With her job, she says she never knows if someone wants her or the version they see on TV.”
“That’s got to be tough.”
Ashlyn nodded. “Yeah. But maybe she’ll woman up and tell him she thinks he’s hot.”
I snorted. “I hope so. There are clearly plenty of women who agree with her.” There were more than a few women with their breasts on display as they leaned over the bar to get the attention of the sexy bartender.
“I’ve never heard of him going home with anyone from the bar. He’s the owner, and his daughter was our server.”
“Really? He doesn’t look old enough.” I wasn’t close enough to see him well, but he had dark blond hair and a few days’ worth of a beard, making him look part surfer. He was tall and smiled kindly at all the customers, his gaze never dropping from their faces.
Ashlyn nodded. “He’s in his later forties, I think.”
“It’s crazy how ten years older than us doesn’t seem like that much now, but in college it would have been a huge gap.”
“So true. Rob’s eight years older than me.” She scrunched up her face. “And we’re not dating anymore.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and hugged her to my side. Zuri and Sage made their way to us, carrying four shots each. They nodded to an empty high-top table, and we pivoted to meet there.
“Wellington opened a tab for us. He’s going to add all our drinks to it no matter who goes up there,” Sage said.
“Yes, Wellington was so sweet,” Zuri teased Sage.