Ryder thought he was “really dope,” which was high praise coming from a thirteen year old.
Her mom had said that he was confident.
Maybe he was just one of those universally appealing people. Brynn had read case studies in her anthropology courses about unique people that everyone was attracted to. Scientists had tried to pinpoint why people had the reactions they had; some thought it was their bone structure, others thought it was due to a scent that they expelled. One theory was that universally appealing specimens all existed on the same frequency and that’s what people and animals responded to. If that was the case, it would also explain why Lucy had automatically liked him so much.
“Where did you go?” Karen asked as she lightly squeezed Brynn’s arm. “I lost you there for a minute.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about work.”
That was her go-to excuse whenever someone asked what she was thinking about and she didn’t want to tell them. It was one of the perks of working in the mental health field.
“Really?” A knowing glint sparked in Karen’s eyes as they joined the other walkers. “Is that what we’re calling Axel now?”
As they filed in with the group of ten, Brynn was bombarded with questions about Axel. Mrs. Dobrinski took a particular interest. If the Needlepoint Mafia were a real crime family, Mrs. D would be the head of the organization. She made it her business to know everything about everyone that resided in Whisper Lake. Her questions were much more intense and pointed than anyone else’s. Brynn kept her answers vague.
“Did your mother do a background check on him?”
She seriously doubted it.
“I don’t know.”
“Does he have children?”
She didn’t think so. With how involved he was with Izzy, she doubted that he had a kid somewhere that he hadn’t mentioned.
“I don’t know.”
“What does he do for work?”
“I don’t know.”
After several more inquiries, Mrs. D gave up on grilling Brynn, obviously chalking her up to a lost cause and sped to the front of the line. For the rest of the walk, Brynn tried to clear her mind and fill her heart with joy, like she’d done every weekday morning for the past decade. But for the first time in all those years, it proved to be an impossible task. Both were already filled with thoughts of Axel Vaughn.