"You all right?" he questioned.
I nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh, I dunno. Hearing that the girl who broke your heart is returning can sometimes do a thing to a guy."
I looked down at the can in my hand and nodded. "Yep, you’re right, but I'm good."
3
Bailey
I openedmy eyes and looked around at the light-pink walls of my childhood bedroom. Every morning for the past week it had felt as if I had been transported back into the past—or never left. I stretched and then lay in bed listening to the birds chirping outside my open window, a sound I had missed while living in a high-rise in a heavily populated city. My mother hadn't done anything to my room. It was still the same color I had painted it when I was in my early teens, but if I were to stay here, it was definitely going to need a do-over.
I kicked my purple comforter off and placed my feet down on the plush carpet and glanced over to the picture frame on the desk. I hadn't noticed it before and wished I hadn't now. I picked it up and looked down at it. Jackson sat behind me, his arms wrapped around me. I remembered the day it was taken. We had hiked up to the ridge and had a picnic lunch.
I blew out a breath, got up, and shoved the frame into the desk drawer. Everywhere I looked, there were reminders of him and me. The teddy bear he had won for me at the Sunnyville Fair thirteen years ago sat on the chair in the corner of my room, tickets from one of the last concerts we had been to lay where I had left them, the necklace he had given me for our sixth anniversary lay perfectly sprawled out, so the chain didn't tangle on the top of my dresser. Little memories of him were everywhere.
"Time to rise and shine," I heard my mother call from the hall. "You start your new job today."
I smiled to myself. It didn't matter how long I'd been gone from home, Mom always thought I needed a guiding hand. I reached for my sweatshirt that hung over the footboard of the bed and threw it over my head while trudging to the bathroom where I swept my hair up into a ponytail and splashed some water on my face before heading to the kitchen.
I was greeted by the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes cooking. "Morning, Mom."
"Good morning," she said as she bent into the fridge and pulled out the syrup. "Did you want juice?"
"Nah, I'm good with coffee."
"Bailey, you really should have juice."
"Fine, Mom, just a little," I muttered as I grabbed my favorite mug from the cupboard and filled it, carefully placing the carafe back on the hot plate. I looked out the kitchen window into the backyard. Four hooded orioles sat on the edge of the bird bath.
"So, what's it like to be back home?"
"A little surreal, but nice. I see you still feed the orioles."
"Yes, Connor used to love them. He would watch them for hours on end when he was younger. They seem to be here in abundance ever since..." She stopped talking, and I turned to see her wrap her fist around the handle of the flipper tight enough to make her knuckles turn white and she closed her eyes. "I mean for the last few years," Mom murmured as she flipped the pancakes onto a plate.
I allowed her moment of unease and sadness to invade me. I couldn't imagine how she must be feeling. I missed my brother so much, but I had gotten to escape the nightmare. Mom, however, still lived in the very same house she was in the night Dad walked out on us, and the unfortunate night that Connor was so suddenly taken from us.
I took a deep breath, turned around, and sat down at the table, sipping on my coffee, watching as Mom dumped another dollop of batter into the pan.
"So, you've been out and about a lot since you came home. Been doing anything interesting?"
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that. I promise it won't keep up. I had to go for my interview and to get a few things, you know, change my driver’s license, but soon I'll be around all the time and you will be begging me to go out."
"Nonsense. That would never happen. I've missed having you home."
I took another sip of my coffee and checked my phone for any messages. I was reading an email from Justine when Mom's voice caused me to jump.
"Mrs. Fisher said she saw you downtown the other day."
"Oh, how is she?"
"She's good. She said you were down near Sunnyville Police Department."
"Yeah, so what?" I knew what my mother was hinting at.
"Oh nothing."