Rennie sat back in her chair and placed her hand over her stomach. She was full, having eaten one of the best meals of her life. A few morsels lingered on her plate, and even though Rennie lacked the energy to lift her fork, her index finger did the job for her and scooped the last bit of mashed potatoes off her plate. She stuck her finger in her mouth and moaned.
“I don’t know what you put in these potatoes, Simi, but they are the best thing I’ve ever tasted. You should open a restaurant.”
“Don’t give her any ideas, Ren,” Brooklyn said. She lay back in her chair and mimicked Rennie.
“It’s an old family recipe,” Simone responded with a smile.
“Can I join your family?” Rennie asked. Simone and Brystol laughed.
“You’ll give it to me, right, Simi?” Brystol batted her eyelashes at the woman who had helped raise her over the years.
“Of course.” Simi cupped Brystol’s cheeks and gave the teenager an adoring smile. Rennie enjoyed watching the two of them together. They had a fondness for each other that was hard to come by lately.
As people finished dinner, they came over to the main table and thanked Brooklyn and Simone for dinner. Brooklyn told everyone that it was all Simone and her team who deserved the credit. She also reminded them to come back for pie or to take a piece to their room, as room service would be off for the night.
“Pie? How can you even mention dessert?” Rennie whined. She wanted pie. A slice of each one if she had her way. Earlier in the day, she had her hand slapped by Simone when she was caught trying to sneak a piece. As far as Rennie was concerned, she could live off cookies, cake, and pie and never eat a regular meal again, if she wouldn’t balloon to five thousand pounds.
“It’s always pie-thirty somewhere,” Bowie said as he stood and went over to the table of desserts. Rennie watched him like a hawk. Her mouth watered when he returned with a piece of pumpkin pie with a mountain of whipped cream on top.
Brooklyn pulled the plate away from Bowie just as his fork touched the whipped cream. “What are you doing, woman?”
“We’re waiting for Graham to get here.”
Graham.
The sound of Graham’s name made Rennie pay attention. She sat up a bit straighter and ran her hand through her hair to make sure there wasn’t a strand out of place. Thankfully, she had changed her clothes for dinner. Although she still had on a pair of stretchy pants, she looked normal.
Wait, why do I care?
Rennie’s thoughts gave her pause. Why did she care if Graham came over? Rennie had a boyfriend. She was in a committed relationship. Yet, since the day she walked into the Whale Spout five months ago and saw her Graham Cracker, he had been on her mind. Fifteen years she’d spent missing him because her best friend had asked her to stay away. Rennie had regrets, and there had been many times over the years when she’d picked up the phone to call or would fall down the rabbit hole of social media and spend hours looking him up online. And there were times when she remembered how he ditched her, ignored her after everything happened. How, when he went back to California, he packed up his stuff, quit his job, and left without a single word to her. They never had a proper goodbye, at least not one that meant anything. The last time Rennie saw Graham, all those years ago, they were in the parking lot of the church after Austin’s funeral. Rennie had to leave to go back to her job. They hugged, and Graham promised to call when he got home at the end of the week. The call never came, and Brooklyn left shortly afterward. It seemed their lives in Cape Harbor were over, along with any friendships they had established.
Over the past few months, there were times when Rennie was in Cape Harbor, and she had chosen not to see Graham. Not because she had been mad at him, but for her own peace of mind. Rennie noticed that when she hadn’t seen Theo for lengthy periods, her thoughts moved on to Graham. Rennie likened those moments to her past, when she and Graham would practice the friends-with-benefits role. Their relationship had always been easy. They gravitated toward each other, flirted relentlessly, knew each other’s thoughts, and often finished each other’s sentences. Their friendliness toward one another was often an issue when they were exploring other relationships. When Graham had a girlfriend, Rennie was always friendly. A little bit too much, and her exuberance often caused problems with Graham. Toward the end, when she was busy with law school and internships, she distanced herself from Graham. Mostly out of respect for his girlfriend at the time.
“Speak of the devil.” Bowie pushed away from the table with his phone in his hand and disappeared down the hall. Rennie watched until he was out of sight, wondering why Graham called instead of showing up.
“I’m exhausted,” Brooklyn stated for all to hear. When Rennie looked at her, she had her arms stretched over her head and yawned. “Four a.m. is going to come so early.”
“We could sleep in and wait until Cyber Monday,” Rennie suggested. “The sales are just as good, and we don’t have to get dressed, fight for a parking spot, deal with traffic, or carry bags through busy malls.” All valid points, even though she wanted the one-on-one time with Brooklyn.
“True, but I like to touch what I’m buying. I want to see the box, read the fine print, and make sure the product is quality.”
“You mean unlike the snuggly blanket you found online that only fit a Barbie doll?” Brystol asked her mom.
“Exactly!” Brooklyn exclaimed. “This is why I can’t be trusted to shop online.” She looked directly at Rennie. “And don’t even get me started on reviews. You know most of them are fake anyway.”
Rennie scoffed but secretly agreed. She had been burned a time or two with deals that seemed too good to be true, and when the product arrived not to her liking or the specifications on the website, she had to battle some foreign entity for a refund. Black Friday shopping would commence in the morning.
Bowie came back into the room and paused as he held his phone in his hand, looked from the device to the table where his family and friends sat, and moved slowly toward his seat.
“What’s wrong?” Brooklyn asked as Bowie sat next to her. She reached out and put her hand over his.
“It’s Grady.” Bowie paused and glanced at his phone. “He’s in the hospital in Port Angeles.”
“Was that Graham? What did he say?” Brooklyn fired off her questions in rapid succession.
“He asked me to check the ferry schedule, and he’d let me know. Nothing else.”
“I’m going to drive over,” Rennie blurted out.
Brooklyn turned sharply toward her friend. “Why?”
Rennie stood slowly as she composed her thoughts. Her gut told her she needed to be there for Graham. Sure, they weren’t as close as they used to be, but he was still her friend. “I don’t know. I just need to be there for him. Make sure he and his parents are okay.”
“I’ll go with you. I know George. He’s probably sitting outside. He hasn’t dealt with Grady very well,” Bowie added.
“Okay,” Brooklyn sighed. “You guys go—keep me updated.”
Rennie saw the disappointment in Brooklyn’s eyes. Was it because Bowie decided to go, or was it because Rennie was leaving, and it likely meant no shopping trip for tomorrow? The drive alone would be at least seven hours round trip.