Page 56 of Hold Me Until Morning

I should have assumed it. They were both from Time River, and it wasn’t like most didn’t stumble into their neighbors at some point in a small town this size.

But I’d never imagined they’d be friends.

“This is coming from you?” I finally managed when I got my emotions far enough under control that I could speak.

I just needed to remind myself that Cody didn’t matter.

He was an acquaintance.

A memory.

And like I’d told my father, I could handle him.

Paisley tossed back a curled lock of silvery hair. “Well, I do admit I look pretty amazing tonight, but you in that dress and those boots? I’m afraid this place might go up in flames. Combust. Go boom!”

She made an exploding motion.

Only I wasn’t the one who was lighting a fire.

It was him.

Because there was no mistaking the flames licking softly across my flesh. So palpable I could have sworn they were physical.

I peeked to the side, no resisting the lure.

Cody sat there without saying anything, though he didn’t need to.

All that masculinity he was radiating spoke for itself.

She yanked my hand and started to haul me to the table. “Come meet everyone.”

I fumbled on my too-high heels to keep up with her, Cody’s aura inundating me as I staggered deeper into his space.

“Everyone, this is my old friend I was telling you about…Hailey Wagner, better known as Hails Bells.”

She exaggerated a wave like she was showcasing a prize before she started tossing out introductions. “This is my bestie, Dakota.”

She pointed at a woman who was maybe a year or two older than me. She had brown hair that was the color of toasted chestnuts pulled into a high ponytail, and she wore a floral dress.

She didn’t hesitate to stand to pull me into a hug. She squeezed me tight in the sort of welcome I wasn’t expecting, oozing the type of warmth you could sink into.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Hailey. Paisley was just telling me how much she adores you and is excited you’re back in her life.”

“It’s great to meet you, too.” My chest felt both heavy and light, buoyed, while a whisper of loss pulled in the deepest recesses of me. I’d been so hesitant to open myself up to relationships. To friends after what I’d done.

After what I’d caused.

The pain of it almost too much to stand beneath.

But is that what Brooke really would have wanted? For me to remain stagnant? Frozen in the mire?

Paisley continued, pointing as she introduced me to Savannah and Ezra who were engaged and expecting a baby and as adorable as could be before she gestured at Cody. “And this is Cody. Cody Cooper. Dakota’s older brother.”

Ah.

There was the connection.

It was strange how one person could inhabit so much of your mind, could take up a page in your history as if they held the utmost significance, and you knew next to nothing about them.

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