Page 5 of Waiting to Love You

Audrey is currently living in San Antonio, Texas, with her daughter, Love, although I try every time we chat to get her to move here to Tyson’s Creek. I know she says she’s happy there with her current boyfriend, Ian, but something feels off about their relationship. Something I can’t seem to put my finger on. Ian seems to be the perfect guy for Audrey, but there is this nagging voice in the back of my head that keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Not this again.” Audrey sighs loudly. “Love has a life here and friends. I don’t want to uproot her just because I miss being near my best friend. And there’s also Ian…”

“Oh, yeah, Ian.” Leia huffs. “How’s this amazing boyfriend of yours?”

“He’s fine. On another business trip to the East Coast, but he should be home this weekend.” She grimaces slightly before plastering a fake smile on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Leia and I ask in unison.

“Nothing,” Audrey eyes looking anywhere but at the two of us.

“Do we need to call Selina, too? I’m sure she’ll convince you to tell us what’s going on.”

Selina is the other person missing from our friend group. Leia and Selina grew up here in Tyson’s Creek together but didn’t get close until after their friend, Lydia, passed away during childbirth. Currently, Selina is living her dream as a ballerina in the New York City Ballet after graduating from Juilliard. She doesn’t come back to town at all to visit, but we all stay in touch through our weekly video calls.

“No. Besides, she’s at practice. She won’t be able to answer anyway.” Audrey huffs before sighing loudly. “Everything is fine. I promise. You four would be the first to know if it wasn’t.”

“We better be,” I respond quickly with an affirmative nod before stripping down to my underwear and changing clothes for the second time.

“And don’t forget, we know places to hide a body. Just say the word.”

“You know that makes it premeditated, Auntie Leia, right?” Love shouts from somewhere off-camera, causing Leia and me to laugh loudly.

“Yeah, I know,” Leia replies before checking the time on her watch. “Not that I don’t love chatting with you two, but if we don’t get Bristol dressed and out the door soon, my brother might send a search party.”

Before I met Leia in our junior year of college, I kept to myself. Sure, I had a few friends, but I wasn’t close to anyone besides Audrey. I chose to keep people at arm’s length as much as possible so that when I had to leave them, it didn’t hurt nearly as much. However, Leia wasn’t having it. After we were partnered up for a project in class, Leia continued sending me text messages and asking me to hang out. I ignored all of them, hoping she would get the hint and leave me alone. But she didn’t. Instead, she started sitting next to me during class, asking me to have lunch with her, and even planning study dates for the two of us. After a while, Leia started asking me about my family and friends, both subjects I rarely spoke to others about, and I found myself telling her everything. It was as natural as breathing, just like my friendship with Audrey. With Leia came Selina, and the four of us all became fast friends. I never had a close-knit family, but these three are the family I always dreamed of having. I know deep down that these ladies will have my back, no matter what happens.

“Why didn’t you say so?” I shout with glee. “Gotta go, Audrey. Love you, and give Love a kiss for us.”

Leia doesn’t even have time to say goodbye before I slam my laptop shut and grab her hand, pulling her toward the door. “You should’ve told me this was just us hanging out with Walker. I would’ve been dressed and ready to go hours ago.”

The first time I met Leia’s family, I was nervous. She grew up living in the same place her entire life, nothing like the way I grew up. Sure, we found something in common while we were at college, but I wondered if things would be different now that we weren’t in our little insulated bubble at college. I know it was silly, but I was worried I’d no longer have anything in common with her.

That all went out the window after meeting her dad, her older brother, Walker, and her younger sister, Skye. Yes, you read those names right. Leia and her siblings are all named after Star Wars characters. I don’t know the entire story, but her mom came to Tyson’s Creek to see some comet or something and never left. Her parents met when her mom was on that trip, and the rest is history.

“My apologies.” Leia huffs, blowing a loose tendril of her blonde hair out of her face as I shove her out the front door and pull it closed behind me. “Who knew that all it took was mentioning my brother was home to get you out of the house?”

Walker Armstrong is two years older than Leia and me and has become just as much my brother as he is Leia’s. The moment he smiled down at me, I felt safe and cared for. Not romantically, but how a brother looks at his sister. That moment was when I became his Bri Bri, and it’s been that way ever since. He lives a few hours away in Rose Hill, a small town in Magnolia County, where he’s the fire chief. If he isn’t busy saving the townsfolk of Rose Hill from fires and rescuing kittens from trees—Leia’s description of his job, not mine—he’s volunteering at the local community center or building homes for the homeless. Basically, he’s the male version of Mother Theresa—again, Leia’s description, not mine.

“That’s not the only way, but it helps. You know I love hanging out with your family, so leaving the house is an easy decision. If you were forcing me to go to a bar or on a double date, that would be a different story,” I make my way down the driveway toward her car. “But just for that, you can drive.”

“As if you weren’t going to make me drive anyway.”

“True.” I snort before stopping suddenly. “If this is just a dinner with the famjam, why did you have me put on a fashion show and go through so many outfits?”

Leia’s cheeks turn bright pink before she scurries to the other side of the car. “Look. We really need to get going.”

“Leia. What are you up to?” I question as she ducks into the car, and I pull the passenger door open and climb in.

“This is the first time Walker has been home in months, and he decided it would be a good idea to host a BBQ to thank the staff for all the extra work they did while Dad was in the hospital.”

“That’s not the worst idea in the world,” I say as she pulls away from the curb and heads toward her dad’s place in the hills a few miles outside of town.

Leia’s dad grew up on his family farm right outside of Tyson’s Creek, but after her parents were married, her mom helped him take things to the next level. It’s tucked into the lush and rolling hills just outside of town, but instead of being just a working farm, there’s now a warm and inviting inn, spa, and even a rustic farm-to-table restaurant. The story goes that the family farm suffered a drought or something right after Leia’s grandfather passed away suddenly from a heart attack, and the family had to survive. It was then that Leia’s mom came in with a fresh perspective on things. By turning part of the acres of land into tourist destinations, they could generate revenue for the entire town and save the farm, as well. And the rest is history, as they say.

Now Tranquility Retreat is one of the hottest resort destinations in all of Tennessee. People come from all over the country for a chance to take in the views of the mountains at sunset and learn what it’s like to work on a farm at the same time.

“Walker wants to keep it as low stress as possible. He’s hoping to have some time to relax while he is home. Work has been very stressful lately.”

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