Welcome to Pembrooke: the complete Pembrooke series

by Prince, Jessica

  “There she is,” he grinned at me, “still as pretty as always.”

  Despite the fluttering in my belly, I still rolled my eyes, because I knew there was no way I looked pretty just then. I was a very ugly crier. My nose got red and swollen and it looked like hives had broken out around my eyes. There was no doubt in my mind that he was just trying to cheer me up.

  “Liar,” I sniffled, wiping at my face with the back of my hand. “I probably look horrible right now.”

  “Nah. Not possible.”

  The flutters in my stomach got stronger as we fell into silence, gazing out at the trees that surrounded my dad’s house. I normally loved to stare out into the forest, but at that moment, I wasn’t seeing much of what was in front of me. I was too sad.

  “You want to talk about it?” Ethan asked a few minutes later. “You don’t have to if you don’t want.”

  I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat all of a sudden. “I called my mom today,” I whispered in a tear-filled, scratchy voice. “Dad didn’t want me to at first, but Chloe talked him into letting me. I figured that since it’s been three years she might have missed me or something.” I squeezed my eyes closed and bowed my head, sucking in a stuttered breath. “It was stupid.”

  He bumped me again, only this time he didn’t pull away from me. “Wanting to talk to your mom isn’t stupid, Eliza.”

  I sniffled again, quickly losing the fight on keeping my emotions at bay. “S-she said…” My voice broke on a hiccough, and I began sobbing uncontrollably. “She said she doesn’t want anything to do with me. That if she’d never had me, then her life wouldn’t have turned out so messed up, and that she wishes she’d have just had an abortion like my Aunt Lilith told her to do. She said I was the worst thing that ever happened to her, and she never wants to see me for as long as she lives.”

  Each word spoken was like a stab directly to my chest. Reliving those hateful words my own mother had spit at me through the phone was just as painful as the first time I’d heard them. By the time she’d hung up on me, I was an inconsolable mess. When I was finally able to get the words out, Dad as so angry he punched a hole right through the wall and cut his hand up.

  Ethan’s whole body went stiff beside me after I finished telling him what she’d said. He remained that way for so long I started to worry. Finally, he turned to look at me and the fury in his eyes looked an awful lot like I’d seen in my father’s earlier. “No offense, babe, but your mom’s a total bitch.”

  A surprised laugh bubbled up from my throat. “Yeah. She really is.”

  “And she’s totally wrong.” My gaze jerked up to his at the unexpected harshness in his voice. “She’s so wrong. You’re the best thing that ever happened to her, and if she’s too fucking stupid to realize that, then it’s her loss. I hope she spends the rest of her miserable life bitter and alone.”

  “Uh…” I breathed, unsure what to say. I figured he’d have been upset on my behalf when I told him what went down, especially considering we were friends, but I hadn’t expected his reaction would be so strong. “Thanks, I guess?”

  At my response, some of the hardness in his face softened and he smiled at me. “You’re sweet and funny, and a great person to be around. She should have felt blessed to have someone as great as you in her life.”

  His praise, while heartwarming left me feeling a little awkward. “You have to say that because our families are, like, best friends. You’re just being nice.”

  “When have you known me to say something I didn’t mean just to be nice?”

  That question gave me pause, because in all the time I’d known Ethan Prewitt, I’d never known him to say anything he didn’t mean.

  At my lack of response, he smirked. “See? I’m not saying it just to be nice. I’m saying it because it’s a fact. And I know it’s a fact because you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I know your bitch of a mom should feel lucky because I feel lucky that I get to know you.”

  My jaw dropped opened as I stared into his earnest expression. “Really?”

  With a chuckle, he threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me against him. “Really, kiddo.”

  It was that day, that very moment that solidified Ethan’s place as my best friend.

  And that friendship only grew stronger from there.

  5

  Eliza

  My phone chirped from my back pocket. Pulling it out, I smiled at the text I just received.

  Lilly: EMERGENCY! We’re out of wine!

  I chuckled under my breath as I typed my response.

  Eliza: Then you should have taken your lazy ass to the store. You’re right upstairs!

  Lilly: But my bestest friend is just now getting off work, and I’ve already taken my bra off for the evening. Don’t make me put it back on! Pretty pleeeeeeease?

  I rolled my eyes and gave in, just like I always did.

  Eliza: Fine, since I’m such a nice person I’ll run to the corner store. But you owe me.

  Lilly: Ooh! Pick up those new mega-stuffed Oreo’s while you’re there! And those Oreo churros! Oh! And some chips and salsa!

  It was obvious someone was suffering from a major case of PMS. I didn’t bother responding back, because honestly, everything she’d just listed off sounded pretty damn good to me. And the bonus was I didn’t have to cook any of it.

  Flipping the switch to the remaining lights, I walked out the front of Sinful Sweets Café and locked up behind me. Usually, I’d have just taken the back staircase up to my and Lilly’s apartment, but since I was her errand bitch for the evening, I hit the boardwalk along Main to stroll the few blocks to Mabel’s Corner Market.

  The sun was down and the streets were emptying out for the evening. Only a few people were left on the wooden sidewalks. I got a couple friendly “hellos” and chin tilts from the few familiar faces still out and about as I pulled the door open and stepped out of the brisk fall air into the small, quaint store.

  “Evening, Eliza.”

  My head turned toward the front counter where Mabel stood, just like she did every day for as long as I could remember. Well into her seventies, Mabel herself was probably just as much an institution in Pembrooke as her Corner Market was.

  “Evening Mabel.” I smiled, reaching over to pick up one of the small shopping baskets. “How are you doing?”

  “Woke up this morning, so you won’t hear me complaining.”

  “Way to stay positive, Mabel,” I laughed as I started for the freezer section. I grabbed the churros from the dessert aisle then bee-lined for the cookies. I heard the bell over the door chime just as I was internally debating the perfect chip/dip combo, when the tiny hairs on my arm suddenly stood on end.

  I stood frozen in place as I was hit with a scent I knew all too well. It was like clean cotton and outdoors, something distinctively male that I had no probably recognizing, even though it had been years since I smelled it. The fragrance, while very subtle, hit me in the chest like a ton of bricks, stealing all the air from my lungs.

  His husky voice spoke from behind me, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of pain that lanced through my chest. “I’d tell you to go for the Fritos and bean dip, but you were always a tortilla chips and salsa kind of girl.”

  I stood like that for several seconds until my body finally decided to cooperate and I was able to breathe again. I moved slowly, turning in place to see the boy who’d crushed my heart six years ago, standing directly behind me. And the sight of him was a complete shock to my system. There was no way of possibly confusing him for a boy any longer. He was definitely all man. Hell, even the times I’d been forced to watch him on TV during a game, or stumbled across his photo on the cover of a sports magazine while in a checkout line hadn’t prepared me for the full effect of Ethan Prewitt, Football God, all grown up and in the flesh.

  He was taller than I remembered… by a lot. His chest was wider, shoulders broader. His once lean frame was packed with mus
cles that even his t-shirt and jeans weren’t able to hide. My eyes scanned down his massive frame of their own accord, catching briefly on the crutches resting under his arm and the brace covering the majority of his left leg.

  His golden brown eyes were shaded by the brim of a worn out Denver Wildcats ball cap, making his prominent, square jawline and straight nose stand out. As if the chiseled features weren’t enough to make most women keel over with excitement, there was the brilliant white smile that slowly spread across his lips. All straight white teeth surrounded by full lips. My heart stuttered and that pain grew more intense the longer I stood there staring.

  “Ethan.” Despite the riot of emotions I was overcome with, my voice was flat. And I knew he heard it too, because that smile of his began to slip from his handsome face.

  “Kiddo,” he said in a low voice. “Christ, I’ve missed you.”

  That nickname hit me right in the stomach, and my knees threatened to buckle underneath me. I was so overcome with the fear that I was about to hit the ground that I barely had time to register the sound of his crutches hitting the floor. Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around my body, holding me up while squeezing my lungs to the point of discomfort.

  The sight of Ethan had caused a short in my brain so bad that it took me several seconds to realize what was happening. Was he…? His head turned and I felt his nose brush my neck as he inhaled deeply. Sniffing me.

  Oh sweet mother of hell, Ethan was hugging me in the middle of Mabel’s Corner Market. After six years of radio silence. After having torn me in half with his hateful words.

  “Damn, Eliza. It’s so fucking good to see you. You have no idea,” he whispered against my skin.

  Once I realized exactly what was happening, the shock of the situation wore off quickly, and white-hot anger took its place.

  My whole body went rigid. “Let. Go,” I ground out between clenched teeth.

  His body went stiff against me. The steel band of his arms around me loosened as he lifted his head from the crook of my neck.

  He was so close now that as he looked down at me, I could see those frowning golden eyes perfectly beneath the bill of his baseball cap. “Eliz—”

  I held up my hand to stop him. “No. Just…” What the hell was I actually planning on saying? As each year passed and my anger at Ethan intensified, I’d done what any sane, rational girl did when hurt by one of her best friends who she just so happened to have had a crush on at a young age. I rehearsed exactly what I would say to him if I ever got the chance. I had the whole thing memorized… and it was freaking brilliant. Each sentence was carefully thought out to inflict the most damage. In my imagination, I was dressed to the nines, hair perfect, makeup flawless, and everything I had to say would absolutely destroy him.

  But in reality? Well, I was wearing the same tank top I’d been cooking in all day, my hair was a ratty mess, thrown up on the top of my head, I sweated my makeup off hours ago, and I was pretty sure I smelled particularly ripe after a day spent in a hot-as-shit kitchen.

  And the worst part — I couldn’t remember what I spent years planning on saying to him. Not a fucking word of it.

  The best I could come up with was a whispered, “I have to go,” just before dropping my basket on the floor at my feet with a loud clatter.

  I tried in vain to tune his voice out as I scurried down the aisle and out of the store with none of the items I intended to buy. Once my feet hit the wood planks of the sidewalk, I broke out into a run, not slowing down until I hit the staircase in the alley behind Sinful Sweets that led up to my apartment.

  My hands were so shaky by the time I reached the landing that I dropped them three times before finally getting the door unlocked. Once I stepped inside, I slammed it behind me and hunched over, hands to knees, completely out of breath.

  “What the hell?” Lilly said, coming around the corner from the living room. “You look like you just saw a ghost. What’s going on? And where’s the junk food and wine?”

  “E-Ethan,” I panted, sucking in as much air as possible.

  Her face twisted in confusion. “Ethan? Ethan what?”

  “He… the store… hugged me… ran away…” Dear God, I was really out of shape. I gulped in more air. “Bastard… made me… do cardio… I hate him.”

  “Was anything you just said supposed to make actual sense? Are you drunk right now? Is that what’s going on?”

  Once I could finally breathe again, I straightened and leaned back against the door, shooting her a dead glare for good measure. “No, I’m not drunk. Ethan’s here. I ran into him at the corner store.”

  Her eyes grew so big I worried they might just pop out. “He’s here? Like here, here? As in Pembrooke here?”

  Okay, so I might have failed to mention to my best friend that my other best friend — the one I currently hated with the fire of a thousand suns —had moved back indefinitely, but in my defense… well, she probably would have tracked him down and broken his other knee for hurting me. Lilly was kind of fierce like that.

  “He’s back at Harlow and Noah’s place.”

  “What?!” she shrieked. “Are you kidding me? And you just found out?”

  I managed a guilty grimace as I shrugged noncommittally. “Well…”

  “Oh hell no! You’ve known about this and didn’t tell me?!”

  I threw my arms out at my sides, ready to beg forgiveness. “I’m sorry! But if you think about it, I did you a favor by keeping it a secret.”

  Lilly crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Oh really? And how do you figure that?”

  I pushed off the door and started for the kitchen, hoping against hope that the secret bottle of wine I kept stashed for emergency purposes was still in its hiding spot. “You’re not currently locked up for attempted murder, are you? You’re welcome.” Standing on my tiptoes, I reached for the cabinet high above the fridge. I had to strain to reach, but once the cool glass of the bottle hit my fingers, I sighed in relief.

  “And you hide wine from me, too?!” Lilley shouted in outrage. “What kind of friendship is this? I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

  “Stop pouting,” I scolded as I rummaged in the drawer for our corkscrew. “I totally intend on sharing. I just need about a glass of this before I do.” The popping sound of the cork was like music to my ears. I brought the bottle to my lips and took a huge gulp, not bothering with something as tedious as a glass.

  Lilly grabbed the bottle from my hand once I’d downed a quarter of it. “Okay, wino. Now that you’ve had your liquid courage, tell me what’s going on.”

  Deciding the best course of action was to just rip the Band-Aid right off, I dove in, telling her everything Chloe told me the week before, and how I had every intention of just staying away from Ethan until he inevitably headed back to Denver and disappeared off the map for another six years. By the time I reached the part where I ran out of Mabel’s like my ass was on fire, she had wisely reached over head and pulled two of our largest wineglasses from the cabinet, filling mine to the very top like the amazing friend she was.

  “So, let me get this straight.” She paused long enough to take a sip of the red wine. “That prick actually had the balls to tell you he missed you and hug you like it was nothing?”

  “Pretty much.” Tipping my head back, I drained the contents of my glass and held it out for a refill.

  “And instead of laying into his ass like you’ve been planning to do for the past six years, you ran out of there like a marathoner.”

  “Yep.” I chugged more wine.

  “Well,” she sighed before draining her own glass, “I’d say you’re the winner of Shittiest Day Ever.”

  Moving from the kitchen into the living room, I plopped down on the couch in a dramatic fashion. “And you know I’m allergic to all things exercise. Running like that could have killed me! And it’s all his fault.”

  Taking a seat at the other end of the couch, Lilly shot me her signature “Bitch, plea
se” look. “There’s no such thing as being allergic to exercise, Eliza. You’re just really out of shape.”

  “You don’t know science!” I argued irrationally — and pathetically, might I add. But after seeing Ethan, I was feeling anything but rational.

  “Fine,” she said sarcastically. “Ethan’s totally to blame for the terrifying brush with death you just had.”

  “Whatever,” I huffed. “Then it’s his fault we aren’t stuffing our faces with Oreos and Tostitos.”

  We fell into a thoughtful silence as I laid back on the couch, resting my head on one arm and my feet in Lilly’s lap. I’d just about finished off my second — or was it third — glass of wine when she spoke again. “So what are you going to do now?”

  And that was the real question, wasn’t it? “Aside from becoming a hermit for the foreseeable future, I don’t have a clue.”

  She gave my foot a squeeze. “Well, if you need anything I’m here. And I’m 96.2 percent sure I know how to dispose of a body without being caught.”

  While that number didn’t inspire my utmost faith in her skills, Lilly’s offer did solidify one thing.

  Ethan Prewitt could suck it. Lilly was the best friend ever.

  6

  Ethan

  Ethan

  “Hey.”

  At the sound of Eliza’s voice carrying on the soft breeze, I tilted my head away from the darkening sky.

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “How’d you find me?” I asked, ignoring her initial question.

  The grass and dried leaves crunched under her shoes as she made her way toward me. “Well, if I were anyone else, I would have probably assumed you were either parked somewhere on Gaslow Lane with a random girl in your back seat or at Patrick Bewler’s bonfire party. But seeing as I’m your best friend, it was easy to read your mood when you got home yesterday. Something’s upset you, and this is your private place.”