Page 70 of What We Keep
“Elsa?” Chloe prompted.
“Huh?”
Chloe blinked as her gaze coasted over my face. “I was invited out to, I guess, a regular get-together they have. Just women, and you need support. There’s nothing like the support of a whole group. It’s a collective energy thing.” Chloe was completely serious.
A twinge of guilt pricked my conscience. “Oh, that’s right. Tiffany invited me before, but I couldn’t go because—” Pausing abruptly, I let out a sigh. “No good excuse. I always worry I don’t belong, so I didn’t go and gave her some lame reason.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes, resting a hand on her hip. “Stop it,” she said.
“Stop what?”
“Look, Elsa, I might be new here, but here’s the thing about Alaska: everybody’s a little funky here. I bet it was hard to move in the middle of high school like you did because what few connections you had were taken away. You probably felt really out of place wherever you went to high school after that. Where was that?”
“Seattle,” I said.
“Whoa, talk about a change of pace. Major urban center. Anyway, my new friend Josie invited me, and she told me I could bring someone if I wanted. You’re my plus-one.” She smiled, but her eyes had a bossy look. “So you’re coming, and we are all going to give you moral support.”
I blew my nose, took a shaky breath, and nodded. Even though it felt dramatic, I put a note on my bedroom door that Haven was not allowed to come in because I needed a little time to think things over. I figured putting it there now was a little insurance that I’d take the space I needed.
“I remember you.” Josie pulled me into a big hug.
Josie was an Olympic skier, so it was kind of hard not to know who she was in our little world. All that aside, her smile was warm, she was welcoming and kind, and before I knew it, I’d gotten about ten hugs from everyone there.
Aside from Chloe and me, Josie, Maisie, Amelia, Madison, Tish, Luna, and Casey were here.
“We’re a smallish group tonight,” Tish pointed out.
Before I could even reply to that, four more women piled in. Respectively, Phoebe, Lucy, Stella, and Rachel.
“See? You’re not the only new person here,” Chloe said with a pointed look, promptly followed by a squeeze around my shoulders.
“Do not ever worry about that,” Madison said, who was, honestly, intimidatingly beautiful with her glossy dark hair, sparkly green eyes, and almost regal features.
“Yeah, we all look at her like that,” Amelia offered dryly from my side.
“Huh?” I glanced askance.
“She used to be a homecoming queen,” Maisie added.
“Hey.” Madison held up a hand. “I’ll have you know that maybe I was a homecoming queen in high school, but I’ve come a long way since then. I can now chop wood, start a fire, survive potential hypothermia…” She let out a sigh, rolling her eyes slightly. “Graham even asked me to help him when he butchered a moose.”
I couldn’t keep the snort of laughter from escaping. “And, how did that go?”
“Oh, it went,” she said dryly. “I’ve never done anything like it.”
“You know, that is something I’ve done,” I chimed in. “My dad was big on moose hunting and fishing and more.”
“You grew up here?” Madison prompted, her voice lilting in question.
“I did.”
“Remind me, when did you move away?” Phoebe asked.
“Well, after my dad passed in my sophomore year in high school.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Phoebe’s brow wrinkled with worry. “I’m sorry about your dad,” she added.
“I appreciate that. It’s been years, so I’ve had time to get used to it.”
