Page 64 of The Sweetest Chirp

I shake my head. “Not the reason I left, but the reason I stayed away.”

She nods, her eyes searching mine. “It’s because of what happened with Thatcher?”

“Yeah,” I agree in almost a whisper.

“Owen told me about it,” she says, reaching out her hand to hold mine. I thread my fingers with hers, and her voice is so low and soothing. “It was bad, and I tried reaching out.”

I fight back the tears. I have missed her so much. “I know, but I was too embarrassed.”

Her face scrunches up. “Embarrassed? You did nothing wrong. He was the jackoff. He’s the one who was embarrassed.”

I hold her gaze. “I had my faults.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know them.”

“How do you know he was embarrassed?”

She gives me a knowing grin. “Come on, Drina. Surely you know he’s been in love with you since forever?” She says it like everyone but I knew. “He came to the house after you ran off and spent hours helping me clean out my plant room. He was distraught, and all I could do was tell him he was an idiot.”

I smile since you don’t go to Angie’s without helping with the plant room. Thatcher knows that and he hates her plants, yet he went to my best female friend and confided in her. Quietly, I say, “I was an idiot for running.”

She shrugs. “Eh, I don’t think I’ll agree with you on that. I ran when life got hard for me.”

“You had reasons to run.” After being sexually assaulted, Angie left home for the solace of South Carolina. She rebuilt her whole life, and now she is insanely in love with her childhood crush, Owen Adler, and having his baby.

“As did you,” she tells me, her eyes never leaving mine. “Everything happens for a reason. If I hadn’t ended up here, I wouldn’t have linked back up with Owen, and my happily-ever-after wouldn’t be happy.”

I swallow past the lump in the throat because our stories as so different, but to her, anything is possible. I blink back the tears as I whisper, “I’m sorry for cutting you off.”

She waves me off, her grin unstoppable. “You had to heal. Who am I to say how you do that? I missed you, and I’m so glad you’re home.”

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, Owen comes up behind her, wrapping his arms tightly around her and nuzzling her neck. “I have spent entirely too long without you in my arms.”

Angie giggles, and my eyes drown in tears. I remember watching them fall in love, and boy, did I root for them. Now, seeing them, it has my heart swelling to ten times its size. “You’re the one who wanted to play hockey with the kids.”

“Duh, I’m practicing for when we have our son,” he says, kissing her jaw.

“Like you need the practice. You grew up with three siblings and a twin.”

He shrugs. “Still, gotta make sure I don’t get rusty.” I laugh at that since he’s insane to think that could happen. He’s the leading scorer for the IceCats. He could play in his sleep. His striking blue eyes settle on me, and he smiles. “Hey there, Audrina. Good to see you again.”

I flash him a shy smile. “Sorry about the other day.”

He scoffs. “I couldn’t believe it was you, and it’s good to see you went back to your regular hair color.”

I laugh as I push my hair off my shoulders. “Apparently I was the only one down with the brown.”

A grimace fills Angie’s features. “Brown. Ew, you are meant to be a strawberry-blond.”

We all laugh in agreement, and while they don’t say it, I feel like they’re talking about more than my hair color. As if they believe I’m meant to be here.

Honestly, I’m starting to feel the same.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The tension I’d felt before I walked into Vivian’s birthday party got worse when I met Thatcher’s proclaimed “boy.” He’d never called anyone his best friend when we were growing up. That title was mine, but I can tell Banks Tellerman is important to Thatcher. He was myreplacement for the time I was away, and I’m unsure how I feel about that.

Should I reclaim that title or maybe go for a new one?

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