Page 7 of The Lost Book of First Loves

At his text, she had a sudden longing for home. Bridger Peak, their Wyoming hometown, was small and quaint, with spectacular surroundings and hardworking people.

It was home, even though being there without her father seemed wrong, as if a vital life force had dried up.

She still had her grandmother Loretta, the bookstore, the Painted Sky ranch her father had loved so much. But she didn’t have Carson, with his sharp mind, his compassion, his deep love for her and their mountain community.

She pushed away the familiar ache to text Xander back.

Sounds good. I would love a chance to catch up. I hope I get the chance to meet Giselle.

The words were a lie. She didn’t know much about this latest girlfriend but what little shedidknow didn’t endear the other woman to Alison.

Giselle was as gorgeous as a model, with brilliant green eyes in a sleek tanned face. She spoke English with a pronounced French accent that only seemed to add to her appeal. The woman was freakishly stunning no matter what they did together, whether that was climbing a mountain in the Himalayas or surfing on the beaches of Morocco or having dinner at a posh seaside restaurant on the Amalfi Coast.

She still couldn’t quite wrap her head around the changes to her best friend. After spending his teen years as king of the geeks at their high school, the guy who played trumpet in the marching band and was the Dungeon Master of their Dungeons & Dragons group, Xander had come into his own as an adult, especially when it came to women.

In his exotic travels that he documented through his channel, it seemed he was always accompanied by a different gorgeous woman. For the past year, it had been Giselle, a fellow vlogger from France who seemed to hang on Xander’s every word.

It took a moment for his reply to come through.

Giselle decided to head back to France. We’ve gone our separate ways.

She stared at the words, trying to ascertain whether he was hurt or relieved or... something else. She didn’t know if she should tell him she was sorry they had split or if she should offer a supportivegood riddance.

She had only met the woman a few times through video calls, the most recent that she had made to Xander a monthago to tell him about her newly discovered sister and to let him know she was staying in a mutual friend’s apartment in Seattle during her last-minute internship.

In a brief interaction before she left the room so they could talk, Giselle had been haughty and dismissive, full of politeness while giving the distinct impression she was looking down her elegant nose at Ali.

She dithered as she gazed down at his text message before she quickly texted him back

I’m sorry?

He sent back a shrugging emoji.

It’s for the best. She wouldn’t have enjoyed Bridger Peak.

Gotta go, he texted almost immediately, before Ali had a chance to absorb that.On my way to catch a train. I probably won’t have great internet for a while. I’ll reach out when I’m back in civilization. Talk soon.

She tucked her phone back into her pocket, feeling a mix of emotions at their interaction.

Xander had been her closest friend since they were in elementary school, when he moved to town with his great-aunt and -uncle. She had been asked by their teacher to sit by him at lunch and welcome him to Bridger Peak. While she had dreaded the assignment, it turned out Xander had been funny and nice and she had liked him immediately.

Through the years, their friendship had sustained her through some tough times. Moving to Colorado for her undergrad and then Utah for law school. Breaking up with her first real boyfriend. And her second.

Most importantly, losing her father.

Lately, something seemed to have shifted between them and she couldn’t quite put her finger on exactly what it might be.Their conversations had become increasingly stilted, and she couldn’t shake the fear that they were losing their friendship.

She wouldn’t worry about that now. He was coming through Seattle and they would have the chance to meet up. They would also probably see each other in Bridger Peak, as she intended to return for the summer as soon as she could arrange it.

Which brought her right back to the problem of what she was supposed to do now. June had been in the middle of ending Ali’s internship when she suffered her cardiac event.

She sighed as she walked out of the waiting room and headed for the hospital exit. She would grab something to eat and then come back to stay with the woman she had come to Seattle to meet.

Ali had fully intended to tell June about that DNA test and had been trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject. She had known that the longer she delayed being honest with her, the more awkward the inevitable conversation would be.

How could she tell her now, though? June had just suffered a cardiac arrest. She had beendead, for heaven’s sake. The only reason she was here instead of lying on a slab in the morgue was because of Alison and her dogged determination to learn CPR after their father’s death.

Maybe that was the reason she had been so compelled to come to Seattle, to meet her sister in person and try to establish a link between them.

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