by Brooks, Abby
I waited impatiently as he turned to me, studying me as intently as I had studied him, stripping back the years and the LA polish to find the gap-toothed girl underneath. I got to watch it happen as he realized who I was. The glint of recognition, the dash of disbelief, and then sheer, unadulterated joy.
“Maisie?” He had me wrapped in a bear hug before I had time to reply, hoisting me up so my legs dangled off the ground. “Holy shit! How the hell are you?”
His deep voice rumbled in my ear and I breathed in his scent, this perfect blend of seawater and spice. How had the sweet, scrawny boy I used to know turned into such a stunning specimen of unadulterated man? He had been everything I needed when we were kids and now, just looking at him, he was everything I wanted as an adult. Well, physically. The deep love I had for him back in the day negated the ‘zero attachment’ rule my go, go, go lifestyle required.
I sent out a silent burst of gratitude to fate. I always knew you were on my side!
Caleb put me down, walked me to the bar, and signaled the bartender over. “What are you drinking?” He glanced at the umbrella-filled drinks adorning my bachelorette party friends and frowned.
I followed his gaze and chuckled to myself. “I know. I know. It looks bad. But while I may have come from frou-frou central over there, I prefer a few less accessories to my drinks.” I turned my attention to the bartender and ordered my favorite—a gin and tonic, top shelf of course.
Caleb lifted an eyebrow when I turned back to him. “Fancy.” His gaze drifted down my body, taking in the cut of my dress—casual enough for Key West, but designer nonetheless—the bit of leg slipping through the slit, and the Jimmy Choo sandals dangling off my foot. He liked what he saw, I could tell that much. “You look good.”
“So do you! I can’t believe you got so big!” With anyone else, I would have tried to come up with a better way to phrase my thoughts, but this was Caleb. There was never a need to censor myself with him, and that had to still be true, even after all this time. The kid I knew hated his thin body. For him to have grown into himself the way he had was good Karma of epic proportions.
He laughed, a warm, throaty sound that went straight to my nether regions, and I found myself leaning in, eager to be closer to him. I caught Brighton giving me two drunkenly enthusiastic thumbs up over his shoulder. I’d have to explain this to her later. The one-night stand was off the table, because this was Caleb and he came with strings attached.
He knew the long, sad story of my past, which I had done my best to leave buried in Kentucky.
He was my first crush, a sweet boy who stood up for me when no one else would, who had grown into exactly the kind of man I couldn’t turn down—and still loved with all of my heart.
Even though it felt like fate…
Like serendipity…
Like the most incredible reversal of fortune...
Caleb and I just weren’t meant to be more than friends.
Four
Caleb
Maisie looked…different.
And the same.
Her smile still lit up the room. Her eyes still shone with a light of their own. But her hair looked expensive and her clothes looked pretentious, and her friends looked like everything that was wrong with the world. Their squawking and squealing had grown more and more obnoxious as the night wore on. My plan had been to finish my beer and skedaddle the fuck out of there, but, well…
Maisie.
After all these years, she was right in front of me—the something big I woke up expecting. And pretentious or not, she had grown into herself in the best way possible. Blonde hair framed her face, highlighting her blue eyes—the same shade as mine, but offset by thick, dark lashes. Lean and long-limbed, she managed to look both sure of herself and delicate at the same time. With a body shaped by yoga, Pilates, and any number of trendy exercises, very little of the troubled girl I remembered was visible in the way adult Maisie held herself. She looked happy. Healthy. And absolutely beautiful.
“Looks like life is treating you just fine.” I found myself unable to take my eyes off her, afraid she might vanish in a puff of smoke if I did.
“Honestly? Life is good right now. It’s very, very good.” Maisie met my eyes with confidence and didn’t flinch away or reach for her phone—though she had it clutched in her hand like a lifeline—as she explained how she ended up in Los Angeles of all places, earning a living making other people’s dreams come true. “I didn’t set out to be a talent agent, but life kind of navigated me onto this path and I couldn’t be happier.”
Her phone buzzed and she glanced down at the notification, grimacing as she swiped it away. “What about you? What does life look like for Caleb Hutton?”
“My story is nowhere near as exciting as yours.” I gave her the highlight reel, wondering how she would respond to hearing my simple story. Sure, I was a business owner—and a damn good one—but would she judge me for missing out on all the glitz and glam that sparkled around her lifestyle? If she did, so be it, but I would hold it against Los Angeles forever if her spirit had somehow been tainted.
Maisie’s wide grin was all the answer I needed. “It’s perfect, Caleb. If I was trying to build a better life for you, I couldn’t. Out on the water every day? It’s you to a T.” She sipped at her drink, her eyes locked on mine. “How’s your mom?”
“It’s been a wild year, but she’s good.” I filled her in on Dad finally kicking the bucket and the turmoil that followed with my brother Wyatt. “It all ended on a good note though. Wyatt’s happy. The family is stronger than ever. And I think Mom’s dating.” I grimaced, still mildly uncomfortable with the idea.
“Good for her!” Maisie gave a triumphant nod of female solidarity with my mother and the conversation moved on. She told me how hard life had been after her family moved to Kentucky. “I didn’t have you there to protect me and things were pretty dark for a while,” she said, then apologized for never reaching back out.
I brushed off the apology. “Life has a funny way of leading us down strange paths. We were too young to pull off a long-distance friendship. But you’re here now and face-to-face is the best way to do anything.”
“It really is.” Maisie’s phone buzzed, then buzzed again, then buzzed again. She glanced down, apologizing as she opened her messages and typed out a reply, her thumbs flying furiously over the screen. “This client,” she began, but never finished the sentence as a reply came in that had a deep frown tugging at her lovely mouth.
I took a pull from my beer and allowed myself the chance to study her. She was beautiful. Too polished for my taste, but beautiful nonetheless. I mentally erased the makeup and imagined her hair in natural waves instead of styled curls. I wanted to imagine her in shorts and a bikini top, but got distracted with the idea of her naked and then choked on my drink when I realized I was mentally undressing my childhood friend.
Not cool, Moose. Not cool.
When Maisie finally put down her phone with another apology, we lost ourselves to conversation. She ordered a second fancy-pants gin and tonic while I threw back another beer. She leaned closer, placing a hand on my knee, then my arm, throwing back her head in laughter at my jokes. Being with her was as easy as it was when we were kids, but now, she was a woman and I was a man and the pull that always existed between us had a different kind of urgency behind it.
We had chemistry.
And a lot of it.
Maisie licked her lips, her eyes on my mouth, and I did everything I could not to stare at a fantastic pair of breasts barely covered by her skimpy little sundress. The caveman in me wanted to scoop her up and carry her out of the room, laying claim to her because in a way, she had always been mine. Her showing up out of the blue like this was just more proof that she was made for me.
“I have something to say that I’ve wanted you to hear for years now,” she began, biting her lip in a way that made me want to do it for her.
“Consider me all ears, then.” With a concerted effo
rt, I focused on what she was saying and nothing else.
Maisie’s soft blue eyes touched mine and I saw a flash of genuine gratitude. “I want to thank you for all you did for me when we were kids. It’s because of you that I even knew to push for everything I’ve accomplished, for my freaking amazing life. I mean, who would have thought that me, poor as dirt Maisie Brown, would end up living the high life in Los Angeles, California? Not poor as dirt Maisie Brown, I can say that for sure.”
I tried to smile, even though I really didn’t want to anymore. Her words tossed reality in my face like a handful of sand. Maisie was here on vacation. She was a tourist and I didn’t do short-term. For all the chemistry she and I were both feeling, there was nothing waiting for us but another tragic goodbye. In the realm of sobering realizations, this one was a kick to the balls.
“Excuse me…” The bartender angled his head to catch our attention. “I hate to interrupt what seems like one hell of a night, but we’re closing. Or rather, we have closed.” He gave us a smile and gestured at the rest of the bar.
Maisie glanced at the room behind us, looking as shocked as I felt. The lights were on. Tables were empty. Her friends were long gone, as was everyone else that wasn’t an employee. “Did we actually shut down the bar?” She gave me an incredulous grin and hopped off her stool, staggering a little as she laughed. “Whoa. How many of those did I have?”
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, reveling as her smooth skin brushed mine. Together, we made our way out to the street, laughing at the stars and the moon hanging high and clear in the velvet sky. She called an Uber and hugged me goodbye, making me promise that we’d hang out as much as possible before she left.
I stood on the sidewalk for several long moments after she drove away, suddenly aware of the Maisie-shaped hole in my heart in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid.
Five
Maisie
The sound of someone banging on my door half-dragged me from sleep. I managed to lift one heavy eyelid, confused to find myself wearing last night’s clothes and sprawled face down on my still-made bed in my hotel room.
“Maisie?” The banging paused long enough for Brighton to call through the door and I pushed myself into a sitting position, pressing a finger to my lips and shushing my friend as if she could hear me.
“I’m coming,” I called, regretting the volume of my own voice as my head started pounding in time with an ever more insistent Brighton. “Slow your roll, chica.”
When I pulled open the door, she pushed into my room, pacing and talking a mile a minute, shoving a large cup of coffee into my hands. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. My hair, matted to my head on one side, sticking out like a lion’s mane on the other. My dress, rumpled, twisted around my torso, and hanging half-crooked off my shoulders. And one eye, still only half-open, squinting her way like a cross-dressed pirate. “Whoa. Do I even want to know what happened last night?”
Now that she could actually see me, I pressed my fingers to my lips again, closing my eyes as I tried to orient myself. “Please Bri, bring it down a notch. I can feel you talking in my head.” I rubbed my temples then took a long drink of my coffee before cracking open a bottle of water and chugging half of it down.
“Drink more. Quickly. I need you at full capacity three hours ago.” She blew a slow breath of air through pursed lips, smoothing her hands down the front of her skirt. “We are in full emergency mode, my friend. Like, all hand’s on deck.”
Pacing my room like an angry little bee, Brighton outlined the reason she was in a panic at the wicked early hour of eleven a.m. (When was the last time I slept this late? Probably the last time I was sick enough to call in. So yeah. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept this late.)
“The best man is going home!” Brighton clutched an imaginary throat and shook her hands like she was strangling an invisible someone in front of her. “I am getting married tomorrow and his little hellion of a child has to go and break his arm. Why is the universe so cruel?”
Even through the haze of my hangover, Brighton’s lack of empathy stunned me. I frowned up at her, still squinting like a confused pirate. “Yeah.” I flopped back on the bed and flung an arm over my eyes. “How dare he go be a good father, concerned about the health and wellbeing of his offspring—hellion or not.” I lifted my arm to peek at my friend. “The nerve of some people.”
Brighton plopped onto the bed, sending a wave of nausea churning through my guts. “I know I sound awful right now, but come on Maisie. With him gone, the symmetry of the entire evening is thrown off and you know how that bothers me.”
I tried to lift her spirits by spewing some line about her now asymmetrical wedding being perfectly imperfect, but she wasn’t buying it. She arched one well-groomed eyebrow and pointed at the coffee in my hand. “Keep drinking. You aren’t doing me any good with cheesy lines like that.”
Cheesy line or not, I wasn’t sure what she expected of me. Did she think I had groomsmen hidden in my luggage? That one text to Collin West would have him on a plane in all his redheaded, under-dressed glory? My mind glommed on to that idea, recognizing it as the beginnings of a plan with potential—as soon as I could drop the pirate act long enough to think straight.
“Honestly,” Brighton said on a sigh, “I’m surprised to find you here at all. From what I could tell, things were going swimmingly with your guy from the bar. I was sure you’d still be with him. Though, believe me, I am so glad you’re not. Or I will be.” She narrowed her eyes and pointed. “As soon as you finish that coffee.”
My eyes lit up as the full potential of my plan unlocked. Obviously, Collin was the wrong choice to fill in as best man. He was too famous, too on the rise, and I wasn’t ready to start calling in favors with him yet.
I sat up, my smile growing as I looked at my friend. Brighton gave me a knowing grin. “You’ve got an idea, don’t you? Quick.” She waved her hands in my direction. “Chug the rest of your coffee before you lose it.”
As I forced down the bitter drink, the idea formed fully. And even I had to admit, it was sublime. The right choice had been presented to me last night in all his kind and mind-numbingly handsome glory.
And the best part?
I knew he would do it.
I knew he would put his plans on hold to don a tuxedo and spend a night celebrating with strangers because that’s the kind of man Caleb Hutton was.
Though…wait…
That wasn’t the best part.
Not by a long shot.
The truly best part was that if Caleb filled in for the best man, he would be my partner for the evening. We would have a reason to spend many hours together—decked out in evening wear no less.
I missed him. And finding him again felt like a singular gift, tossed down from the heavens to enjoy before the clock ticked down on this little vacation and we went back to living on opposite ends of the country. And one thing I learned without question, growing up as poor as I did, if someone was tossing gifts your way, grab ‘em up, say thank you, and figure out how to make it last.
Six
Caleb
When we were little, Maisie’s laugh always seemed to surprise her, as if she didn’t know laughter was a feature that came preinstalled with the human condition. At the bar last night, she laughed easily, her smile light, her eyes clear. Everything about her, the way she spoke, the way she moved, it all told me that life was better for her than it had been in childhood, and I was glad she had figured out what she needed. There was no doubt in my mind that she was the one who made it happen. Some people wandered into luck, but not Maisie. Somehow, I knew she had created everything I ever wanted for her out of nothing but grit and determination.
Today was a scorcher, but the breeze off the water was fresh and the tourists in my care were happy. While I was out too late with Maisie the night before, my energy was high, even if I was a little distracted by the scandalous way that sundress looked on her body. For
as many times as I tried to focus on earning the money my clients spent on my time, I found my thoughts wandering back to her.
Even being as distracted as I was, I managed to make it back to the marina without having to dive into the water for any unneeded rescues. While I might not have been my usual, engaged self, everyone seemed to have a great day in their facemasks and life vests. Definitely a win in my book. As tourists filtered off my boat with giant grins and plenty of gratitude, I sat back, smiling. Life was good. Life was very, very good. And with Maisie around, it was only going to get better.
I finished docking the boat and whipped out my flip phone to shoot my brother Wyatt a text, wanting to set up a time Maisie and I could have dinner at The Hut with my family. She spent so much time with us when we were kids that she might as well sport the Hutton name herself. And while younger me had always assumed that was how life would work out, older me was just happy to have found her again.
Before I even managed to tap out word one in my message to Wyatt, someone interrupted me. “What is this, two thousand and four?” Humor graced a feminine voice and I knew who I was talking to before I even looked up. “You know technology has left you in the dust, right? I feel like it’s my duty as your friend to let you know that you look a little ridiculous right now.”
I flipped my phone shut and shoved it into one of the many pockets of my cargo shorts, looking up to find a grinning Maisie. Another sundress graced her body, leaving her shoulders bare, her long neck looking perfectly kissable. “Good afternoon to you, too.”
She looped her arm through mine. “Walk with me, Hutton. I have a proposition for you.”
A hundred different lewd thoughts leapt to their feet, begging for attention, but I returned them to where they belonged—a dirty little box in the back of my mind. “That’s funny, because I have a proposition for you, too.” I focused hard on my idea to invite Maisie to dinner at The Hut to give her a chance to reconnect with her past and show off how far she had come. Pure, simple thoughts that had nothing to do with that sundress finding its way to my bedroom floor. Or those full lips wrapped around my—