I wrap my arms around my chest, as if the pressure might weaken this force pulling me toward him by the solar plexus, this inexplicable need to be closer and let him wrap me in his arms. “Losing me? When was I ever yours to lose?”
He jerks his gaze away from me, slides off his stool, and downs the rest of his beer. “Thanks. I guess that clears up where we stand after everything.”
I open my mouth to apologize but swallow the words and meet his steady gaze.
Then he backs away and grabs his bags off the bar. He pulls an envelope from his pocket and hands it to me. “I was going to leave this for you with the barista next door, but I guess I can save myself the trouble.”
“What is it?” I ask, staring at the crisp black calligraphy that reads Ellie Courdrey.
“An invitation to Ava and Jake’s wedding. Despite what you seem to think of me, I’m not fucking my future sister-in-law.”
“Their wedding?”
He nods. “They thought about canceling after everything, but . . .” He stares at me for a long beat. “They decided to put love first.”
That feels like a jab. At me? At them? I don’t know. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“Maybe it’s not always about what you want.” He shrugs as if it’s no different to him either way, but I can tell by the tension in his shoulders that it matters a lot.
He steps forward—too close—and I let him, closing my eyes at his scent. Then a flash.
He’s over me. The weight of him presses into my hips, his calloused hands holding my face, his fingers in my hair. “You’re sure?”
I nod. Slide my hands down his back and lift my hips. “Yes. Please.”
He searches my eyes. “No regrets.”
I hold on to the memory of this man, wanting to examine it, to figure out what it means, but I’m too distracted by his closeness in this moment. He’s big. Strong. Warm.
He lowers his mouth to my ear. “I never stopped loving you. Even when you told me to. Even when you chose him.” And then he walks away.
Levi
“I take it grabbing dinner didn’t go so well?”
I turn around from where I’ve been tinkering in the kitchen and see Ava stepping out of the bedroom and wiping the sleep from her eyes. “Shit. I’m sorry. I woke you up, didn’t I?”
“No, not at all. I can totally sleep through banging cabinet doors and the mutterings of angry men.”
I wince. “Sorry.”
She grins. “It’s not a big deal, Levi. I needed to get up anyway.” She scans the carryout boxes on the kitchen island, then the empty beer bottle by the sink and the half-empty one in my hand. “What’s gotten into you?”
I grip the bottle too tightly. “I saw her. I saw Ellie.” Ava’s eyes go wide and her face turns so hopeful that it hurts me to say more. “She came into the bar where I was grabbing our dinner.”
“Is she good? Did she say anything? Is she coming home?”
I shake my head. “She . . . It was weird. I don’t . . .” I don’t even want to put into words the way she treated me, the way she was so cavalier about not wanting us in her life anymore. “She said she’s too scared to come home.”
Ava presses her palm to her chest. “Of course she is. They still don’t know who hurt her, and—”
“I think she believes Colton’s the one who assaulted her.” Fuck. I’ll kill him myself if that’s true.
Ava stumbles toward the chair in the living room and sinks into it. Neither of us wants to think Colton could be capable of hurting Ellie in that way. “My brother did that to her?”
I put my beer down and walk around the counter to join her, sinking into the seat beside hers. “She doesn’t remember that night at all, but she seems to believe he’s responsible.” I shrug, swallowing hard. Only Ellie and Colton know what happened between them those last few days before the paramedics found her unconscious on her living room floor. If she believes Colton hurt her, nearly killed her, then she probably has good reason to believe it.
“I understand if she’s too scared to come back, but why isn’t she talking to us? Taking our phone calls? Why won’t she see us?”
“Guilty by association?” I shrug. “I don’t know, but she asked me where he was.” I shake my head. “Like I’d know. As if I’m helping to hide him or something.”
Tears roll down Ava’s cheeks. “It’s bad enough that I’ll be getting married without my father or my brother there, but now I’m supposed to do it without my best friend?” She shakes her head. “It’s such bullshit. And it’s not fair.”
“You could wait,” I say. It’s not the first time I’ve suggested it. After everything Ava’s been through in the last two months, we’ve all suggested they postpone the wedding. Even Jake asked her to consider waiting, and he was the one who initially insisted the wedding be sooner rather than later.
“I need something good in my life,” she says, meeting my eyes. “Jake, this baby, and your family are the good things in my world right now, and I need to do something that puts my attention on the good instead of all the bad shit.”
“I understand.” I swallow. “I gave her your invitation.”
She wipes her cheeks and brightens a little. “You did?”
I nod. “Don’t get your hopes up, okay? She’s not going to come back to Jackson Harbor. There was so much fear in her voice when she talked about it, when she said she didn’t want to return.”
“I’ve been so selfish.” She presses her hands against her cheeks. “She’s terrified, and I want her to put that worry to the side just so she’ll be at my wedding?”
“Not selfish. Normal. She was your best friend.”
“Is.” She lifts her chin, and it’s good to see that stubborn, defiant Ava hasn’t lost her spunk. The last two months have been hell. “She is my best friend, Levi.”
“Okay. Is.”
“Did you two talk about you at all?”
I shrug. “I said what I needed to say. I can’t force myself into her life.”
“Okay.” She exhales slowly, and I watch her deflate. She was more optimistic about this visit than I was, and I hate seeing that hope drain out of her. “We’ll go home in the morning.”
I nod. “That’s all we can do.”
Ellie
When I get home, I go to my room and close the door behind me, leaning against it as I sink to the floor. I put my head in my hands and bite my lip to trap the sob in my throat. My mom and sister are in their rooms getting ready for bed, and I don’t want them to hear. I don’t want them to know that I saw someone from Jackson Harbor, or how torn up I am by our conversation. I don’t want them to ask me what I remember.
I ball my hands into fists and press them against my eyes. I can’t remember the man’s name or understand my relationship with him, but watching him walk away felt like someone cut my chest open. How can this hurt so much?
I knock my head against the wall, trying to shake out the questions rooting themselves there, the suspicion, the feeling that I need the answers I’ve been avoiding. My family is trying to protect me. Brittany told me that when I moved to Jackson Harbor, I barely visited anymore, but when I was hurt, they picked me up and brought me home. I should be grateful for them, not sneaking around behind their backs looking for answers.
My purse drops to the floor, and a corner of the white envelope peeks out from inside it. The invitation. My hand shakes as I open it.
The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of
Jacob Montgomery Jackson
and
Ava Grace McKinley
I run my fingers across the embossed lettering. Ava’s last name is McKinley, the same as Colton’s. His sister?
The wedding’s next weekend in Jackson Harbor, and the reception is at Jackson Brews immediately following the ceremony.
Jackson Brews. The words niggle at my memory. Does the name seem familiar because I remember it from my time living there, or because I’ve heard of the brewery before?
I pick up the envelope to return the invitation, and a folded piece of paper slides out. I unfold it and see a handwritten note.
Dear Ellie,