“You were always the bright light. The one everyone was interested in.”

“I was a walking disaster. To this day, people still expect me to shoplift candy bars or jump off the roof of the fudge shop.”

“You were interesting,” Audrey pressed.

Remi was getting real sick and tired of other women telling her how “interesting” she was.

“I just did what I wanted to do. Without thinking about consequences. It’s not exactly admirable,” she pointed out. Consequences, it turned out, were a vital part of the equation when it came to decision-making.

“You might not think so, but to those of us who are a little less brave, it is. You didn’t bend to meet anyone else’s expectations. You were you, and that was enough. Maybe the rest of us wanted to be like you. I knew how you felt about Brick, and when I had the chance, I took it.”

“That’s between you two,” Remi said, shifting uncomfortably. “Your relationship has nothing to do with me.”

Audrey sighed heavily. “It had everything to do with you. From beginning to end. I thought what you thought, that he didn’t see you. That he didn’t feel that way about you. So when he started paying attention to me...” She shrugged. “It was almost intoxicating. I was fresh out of college and had no idea what I wanted to do yet and he was just so...”

“Brick,” Remi said, understanding completely.

Audrey nodded. “Exactly. I felt special. I felt like I’d won the prize. Like I’d been named Homecoming Queen.”

“Uh, you were named Homecoming Queen,” Remi pointed out.

“Yeah, because you refused to accept the nomination. That’s not a real win.”

Remi took a swallow of hot coffee and sat with what Audrey was saying.

“When you were off-island, it was different. Brick saw me, and I saw him,” Audrey continued.

“You don’t have to explain,” Remi reminded her. “You don’t owe me anything. And who wouldn’t fall in love with the man who just walked past the door twice trying to figure out what we’re talking about?”

“I spent so much time in my teenage years wanting to be you that when the chance arose, when Brick asked me out that first time, I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I jumped at it. And I did that without wondering if my feelings for him were real or if I just wanted him because you wanted him.”

“You loved him. You still love him,” Remi pointed out.

“He’s a hard man not to love. But it was never right between us. We were never right. Neither was cutting you out of my life. You came home after art school with all your big dreams and a job offer for a gallery in a city I’ve never been to. And I had no plans. I’d gotten my accounting degree that my parents insisted on and was no closer to figuring out what I wanted than when I was sixteen.”

“I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t enough or didn’t have enough,” Remi said.