Page 8 of Aisle Come Back to You

“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad you were there to drive them home.” He brushes me off and folds his arms across his strong chest once more.

“Oh, well, yeah. Of course, I’d never let either of them drive home in this condition,” I say, trying to hide my confusion. I came in expecting a lecture. Instead, he’s acting surprisingly relaxed.

“I know, and that’s why I’ve always appreciated you being her friend,” he says, giving my shoulder an unexpected pat as Blair moves to join Ronnie and the two of them continue to give that lucky little bulldog even more love and attention. It’s crazy how envious I am of a dog right now, especially as she leans down to kiss the top of his head. What the hell is wrong with me?

“Really?” I ask, trying not to get distracted by the ladies as I turn to look over at Miles. “I always thought you hated me.”

“You? No,” he assures me with a shake of the head. “Others, perhaps,” he continues, his gaze dropping toward Ronnie in a less than subtle way. “But with you, I always knew you had her back and would always look out for her.”

A massive wave of guilt crashes over me. I haven’t always been the friend she needed or deserved. More recently, I was likelyone of the people who hurt her the most. As much as I hate it, I understand why she stopped answering my calls and texts—I also have to imagine it was my presence tonight that had her drinking so much more than usual. Maybe I’m giving myself way too much credit here, but in this case, I don’t think I’m wrong.

“I try, but as you know, these two can often make things a little difficult,” I add with an awkward chuckle.

“Oh, I get it. It’s certainly not easy when Blair constantly has that little devil on her shoulder,” he huffs, shaking his head.

“Are you talking about Ronnie?” I ask, my head rearing back in shock. “Because those two definitely play off each other. It’s a combined effort,” I add with a nervous laugh. Sure, Ronnie produces some ridiculous ideas, but she doesn’t come up with them on her own, that’s for sure.

“Maybe it is a combined effort, but she never seems to get herself into the same kind of trouble when Veronica isn’t around. Hell, as much as it sucked having Blair move and be so far away, at least I know she isn’t getting into the same stupid shit she gets into withher,” Miles shoots back, once again nodding his head in Ronnie’s direction.

I’m caught off guard by the obvious tone of annoyance and resentment. Admittedly, the girls did do some stupid shit over the years, and often tried to involve me in their crazy plans, but none of it seems worth holding that level of resentment and bitterness.

“Ronnie may have helped cause some of the trouble, but she always got us out of it. Even more importantly, it’s obvious she’d do anything for Blair. As close as we are and as much as she’ll always be one of my best friends, we’ll never share the same kind of connection that they have. You have to know that Ronnie would never let anything bad happen to Blair,” I say, doing my best to have my friend’s back. Sure, he’s made a few good points, and he isn’t totally off base here, but it’s also wrong to discountall the amazing things Ronnie has done for both of us. Hell, I wouldn’t have agreed to be in her bridal party and embarrass myself in such a way if I didn’t feel like I owed it to her.

“Maybe, but I’m still never going to be her biggest fan.” Miles shrugs, and while I wish he’d take it easier on her, I figure that when it comes to Miles, this is as good as it’s going to get.

“Well, I should probably get going,” I decide, taking an awkward step back. “Ronnie, Blair,” I call out to them. They both look up at me from their spots on the floor. “I’ll see you both tomorrow night,” I say with a nod as Blair all but ignores me and goes back to loving on the dog.

“Don’t forget the coooooookies,” Ronnie reminds me in a sing-song voice. I’m no baker, but I’ve always found those pretty hard to mess up, which is why they felt like the perfect thing to bring to the barbecue tomorrow—even if Blair had continued to give me shit for it all night.

“I won’t,” I promise, shaking my head in amusement. “And good luck to you,” I say one last time to Miles as he rubs a palm over his face.

“Thanks, I’m going to need it.”

Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s wrong.

5

Blair

There’s nothing more embarrassingthan waking up to realize that past you made some really questionable choices, especially when those choices involved you getting drunk in front of your childhood crush. Sadly, or maybe on the bright side, he’s seen me do much worse. I’m pretty sure his wedding day will forever go down as my worst decision ever.

Unfortunately, this was not exactly how I envisioned spending my first night back in Evergreen Grove. It doesn’t help that I likely disappointed Miles in the process. As a twenty-eight-year-old woman, I shouldn’t care what my older brother thinks of my decisions and choices, but I also know how much he worries, and I completely understand why.

Growing up, we were all each other had. Sure, there was my grandma, who provided for us financially, but that was about all she did. More often than not, we were made to feel like burdens as she constantly reminded us that those were her golden years.She had already done her time as a parent, and she shouldn’t have to be taking care of her son’s kids too.

Although my father was more present than our mom, it can’t be said that he did much for us—unless you count the terrible reputation he saddled us with. Everyone knew he was the town drunk and couldn’t stay sober for the life of him.

He was extremely unreliable, getting fired from every job he applied to, and that was only if he didn’t quit first. If there was anything you could count on from Bill Bennett, it was that he was good at quitting, or at least quitting the important stuff. The one thing he couldn’t quit, or rather refused to, was the drugs and alcohol—not even for us kids, who desperately needed a caring parent.

That’s precisely why I can’t help but be disappointed in myself—I’ve always taken pride in being a responsible drinker, so this feels like a complete failure on my part.

Like Miles, I’m terrified of turning out like our father. I’ve also done my best to avoid drinking when I’m upset or emotional, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what I did last night. While it’s a horrible excuse, Ford’s unexpected arrival threw me off. This was especially true given the bomb Ronnie dropped only moments before he walked right back into my life.

I’d known when I agreed to come home that I’d inevitably see him again, especially with us playing such prominent roles in the wedding party. But, nothing could’ve truly prepared me for the emotions I’d felt when I saw him again. It certainly doesn’t help that the last time we spoke, it’d been when I was confessing my feelings as I begged and pleaded for him not to marry Jenny.

Yep! I was that girl who went all Meredith Grey on a guy, desperately pleading with him to pick me instead of her…on his freaking wedding day. Clearly, not my proudest moment.

It’s also the reason I decided I needed to cut off all contact with him as I stopped answering or responding to his calls and texts.I should’ve just blocked his number, but I still haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. As eager as my mind is to be done with him, my heart continues to fight me on this—unfortunately, my heart is a real pain in the ass, and refuses to let go.

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