She shakes her shoulders, loosening up. “I invited a lot of people.” I know what she’s going to say an instant before she says it. “I invited you. And the rest of your brothers.”

I cast my mind back. I was in college then, and the summers were a blur of parties and random trips back to Ruby Bay.

“I don’t think I went to your open house,” I say carefully.

Jenny nods. “You didn’t. For some reason I thought....” She rolls her eyes. “I thought you might come, and then I could show you how much I’d changed since freshman year. It wasn’t very much, but in my mind, I was a completely different person. When your car pulled up—” It takes a steadying breath before she can continue. “I thought you might come in, but you dropped off your brother. And then I saw that you had Madison Lightman in the car with you.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Madison Lightman was a girl from my class. She always knew where the parties were, and I had no interest in her beyond the fact that she was fun to be around. For the evening, not a lifetime. “We must have been on the way somewhere.” All those summers blur into each other for me, but it’s not the same for Jenny.

“After your brother got out of the car, she said something to you, and the two of you just laughed and laughed.” She takes a deep breath. “After that, I never wanted to come back. Then the job offer came up, and what I had going on in New York was mostly in shambles....”

“So you decided to give Ruby Bay a second chance?” My heart warms at the thought. I’ve always loved this town and felt at home here, but to know that Jenny came back here for me...it makes me love it even more. Some people might find that pathetic. I might have once found it pathetic. Not anymore.

But the look on Jenny’s face doesn’t say heartwarming second chance. She bites her lip, looking down at her plate. “Not exactly.”

17

Jenny

The words stick on my tongue like I’ve taken a big bite of Bisquick, and I can’t force them out.