“Hi,” I say awkwardly and step into the light.
“Hello, Aubrey.” My mom drops her magazine, her voice tired but not unkind.
“You’re back?”
“We changed our flight.” She stands up and elbows my dad. His head lolls and she rolls her eyes, giving up on him. “You canceled the date with Andrew Stewart.”
I take a breath and remind myself why I’m here, how this summer changed me. Old Bree would have flown into a sarcastic word war, but I don’t want to put up the front anymore. It’s exhausting.
“Yes, I did,” my voice is calm and level, no longer biting. “I don’t want to date Andrew Stewart. In fact, I don’t want to date any of these guys you set me up with.”
She picks up her phone and a flash of pain travels through me. I forgot about this — her inability to keep attention for one conversation.
“You know that’s rude, right?” My voice isn’t angry or upset, it’s like hers — tired and sad. She looks at me in confusion. “Texting. While we’re having a conversation. You do it all the time.”
Her eyebrows shoot up and she places her phone to the side.
I breathe a small sigh of relief. I would’ve preferred to have the full day tomorrow to rehearse what I want to say. But, after tonight’s dinner with Noah’s happy family, my feelings are fresh and raw. It’s a small improvisation to express feelings I’ve had for a long time. “Kate, sit down. I have some things to tell you.”
And for the first time, I have a real, adult conversation with my mother. In our family room where she ‘ruined’ my summer months ago, I express everything I’ve felt for years — the pain and anger and sadness. I tell her how much it hurts to be called ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’. And I tell her that love isn’t overrated, because I’ve found love with Noah.
It feels like hours have gone by when I reach the end of my speech. It was surprisingly eloquent for not being practiced, but my words were genuine. To my utter surprise, my mom doesn’t glance at her phone once. She doesn’t open her mouth or argue. She listens.
“Aubrey,” she finally whispers and something deep stirs in my soul. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”
She drops her head and stares down at her hands. I have no clue what to do. I’m picking at my fingernails. This is a highly unusual interaction for us.
“I didn’t intend…” She starts, and then tries again. “I didn’t mean…”
She sighs deeply and then looks at me. For the first time, I see my mother as a person. She’s no longer my overbearing, bullying mom. She’s just a woman, confused and uncertain herself. “I respect you for bringing this to me. I know you’ve felt this way for a long time. There was always a gap between us, something separating us. I didn’t know how to fix it, and apparently I made it worse.”
I blink.
She continues. “I’m sorry for making you feel this way. I guess I only ever saw you one way and never spent time getting to know every side of who you are. With the Inns and everything, I forgot what truly mattered. It’s not an excuse, by any means.”
Her eyes are turquoise, like mine, but hers are lined with soft makeup. They glisten.
“Your words strike home on several levels,” she says quietly. “The truth is, those are the very words my mother used to describe me.”
What?!
“Bree, I was very much like you and my mom used to say the same things to me. I must’ve internalized her words and then made you feel the same way I used to feel.”
This is too much. My mom was ‘wild’ like me?
“Really?” I croak, my throat dry. “You?”
“The things I used to get myself into...” My mom has a half-smile and she seems lost in some distant memory. All of a sudden, she looks really young. “Did you know I took Delia for her first skydive? She became obsessed with it. Though of course, I had to stop…”
She glances at my dad and a flash of sadness crosses her face. Wait a minute. Was my dad her Andrew Stewart?
“I wouldn’t blame you if you could never forgive me.” She reaches for my hands. “But I would love to get to know the real you, the real Bree. What do you think?”
Her words cover me like warm water and my shoulders relax down my back. Is this real? Is any of this happening right now? Years of anxiety, anger and grief have piled up so high within me that I’m not sure I can ever tear my walls down for her. But I want to try.
“We’ll see. Mom.”
I offer her the smallest smile, but perhaps the first genuine smile I’ve given her in years. Her palms are warm around mine and she smiles wide. For the first time ever, I feel like my mom is seeing me.
Spontaneously, I lean forward and wrap my arms around her. I give her the hug I always wanted to receive from her, and she wraps her arms around me in response. We stay there for a long while, clasped around each other, and I finally start feeling at home.
66
Bree
“That was a pretty hefty conversation you had with Mom and Dad this morning.” Isla takes her lip chap out of her bag before lowering the air conditioning. Garth is suddenly filled with the scent of blue raspberry.
I sigh and tug on the elastic on my wrist. “Hefty, but necessary.”
“At least you told them. Finally.” She giggles and then bolts out of the car, off to school.
“Have a great day, La.” I say and she slams the door shut. Through the open window, I say, “You know I’m always here for you right?”
Isla gives me a wink. “Ditto.”
She heads towards school, ready to start the next semester with a bang. I smile and watch her go. I can’t believe how much my little sister has grown over the summer. She’s tanned and her hair is blonder than ever. Her backpack is almost the size of her, ready for her textbooks.
I hum under my breath and circle around the school looking for parking. My mind immediately travels back to this morning’s conversation, when I finally told my parents I wanted to take a year off for storm chasing. Things with my mom have slowly been improving, but the news was a hard pill for her to swallow.
Still, I can tell that she’s working on our relationship as hard as I am. Delia calling to rave on and on about my good work at Legacy over the summer only seemed to sweeten matters further. Mom even gave me a tentative hug afterwards.
By the time I’m at my locker and stacking my textbooks, I have an absurdly bright smile for the first day of school. Noah’s coming to meet me soon so we can walk to our first class together. Even though we’ve spent every day together over the last three months, I’m most excited to see his face when I wake up in the morning.
I shut my locker door and glance around the hallway. Isabella Hall and Lucas Therborn storm past me and I roll my eyes. There’s always drama with Isabella. I spot Kiara and Jonathan walking with a couple of friends and Kiara smiles at me.
“Hey, Lewis.”
There’s that familiar husky voice. I turn around to find Noah leaning against the lockers, wearing his leather jacket and smiling his beautiful half-smile. He’s holding a fruit roll-up in his hand.
“That for me?”
“How else could I bribe you to walk the halls with me on the first day of school?”
“Good thinking. It’s tough to be seen with the likes of you.” I open the package and take a bite as Noah kisses me on the cheek.
I wrap my arm around his waist and we walk down the hallway, garnering a few stares. I guess people weren’t expecting Noah ‘the mysterious hottie’ and Bree ‘the wild child’ to get together. Along the way, I spot Anaya talking to someone in the gym. I wonder how her summer turned out.
“Did your dad hear back yet?” I ask mid-bite.
Noah smiles widely. “Delia called last night. He got the job.”
I squeal in delight. Delia did it! The Inn had to move a few things around for budgeting, but she seemed excited to have Noah’s dad on board. And now, he has a permanent, full-time position with Legacy Inn.
“So…
next year…” I trail off, hoping against hope for good news.
“I guess we can take a road trip together,” Noah says with a teasing smile.
“Yes!” I exclaim and kiss him on the cheek.
Then, Noah pauses in the hallway and reaches into his bag. “I want to show you something.”
With a flourish, he produces his well-worn notebook. My heart jumps into my throat as I flip through the pages. “You finished it?”
Noah’s eyes are sparkling and he nods. “I brought it to a publisher a couple of days ago and he loved it. He wants to see the finished novel, typed and ready to go, in the next couple of months.”
He points to the bottom of the last page. “Your note inspired me.”
I read the last sentence aloud, “I loved you then. And I always will.”
My heart might explode in my chest and my stomach is filled with butterflies. I meet his gaze and my smile matches his.
“Check the front,” he says and I immediately flip through to the front of the book. It’s an Acknowledgements page with just two names on it.
“Nina Sawyer”
“Bree Lewis”
I’m officially speechless. Tears spring to my eyes but these are tears of pure joy. I cradle the notebook in my hands, not ready to let it go.
“Without you,” Noah says quietly. “I couldn’t have written this novel, couldn’t have pictured my future. I love you and I will always love you. I’ll follow you across the world if that’s where you want to go.”
My face breaks into a beaming smile. I stand on my tip-toes and give him a proper kiss, the world singing around us.
As Noah and I approach our first class of the day, I’m overwhelmed by how grateful I am for this life-changing summer. Three months ago, I was lost and unsure of my future. Since then, I found out who I am and I learned to be proud of it. I’m excited about a life unaffected by the expectations of people around me. And I had my world turned right-side up by a boy I’ve known forever.
Finally, I’m home.
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Also by Sara Jane Woodley
The Summer I Fell for My Enemy
Copyright © 2020 by Eleventh Avenue Publishing
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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The Summer I Fell for My Best Friend: A Sweet, Heart-Felt Summer Romance (Legacy Inn Book 1) Page 17