Page 26 of It Happened Back Then
“Oh, you can definitely change that,” Meadow responds, her eyes on Cole as he walks up to our table, carrying a tray of drinks. He sets the tray on the table, shifting the bottles and shots into the middle, but his focus is on Meadow, who says, “Ah, you know just the way to a Nilsson’s heart.” Then she grabs the shot closest to her, downing it in one slick move before adding, “Mm, a blowjob shot. My favorite.”
She winks at Cole whose eyes instantly darken almostknowingly, and suddenly, I feel like I’m intruding in a private moment.
“Meadow, for fuck’s sake,” Lief grumbles. “January, you better handle this or she’s going to be completely out of control at your wedding.” He turns to Cole, pushing him away from the table as he exclaims, “And you. Get away from my sister.”
Cole raises his brows at Lief, but says nothing as he turns with a low chuckle and walks back to the bar.
“Meadow, are you and Col–”
“Oh no. This is your show tonight. You interrupted the regularly scheduled programming and now there is no changing the channel.” She passes a shot to me. “Take it and start talking.”
So, I tell them. Everything from finding the lake when we were kids to sneaking through windows to dating in high school. I don’t go into explicit detail because most of it can be left up to interpretation, and also because I don’t need Lief having a heart attack here at the table.
But then, I get to the important part. The part that’s been eating me alive for the last year. Longer if I’m honest with myself. Ever since he met Savannah, I had a feeling our promises from long ago would become history.
“We made a pact.”
“Come again?”
“A pact. It was a silly kid thing. But it’s coming close to the time, and I don’t know if it's real or not.”
“What is it?”
“If we weren’t married by the age of twenty-seven, we’d come back to Bluemoon and marry each other.”
January starts choking on her wine. “You’re kidding?”
I shake my head, “Nope, I mean, after all the crap with Savannah and him moving away, I never thought we’d behere. But he took that job at The Luxury. He moved back home. Do you think he meant it?”
“I think you need to talk to him,” January says cautiously. “I honestly don’t think a pact made at sixteen will hold up in court now.”
“I’m not going to take him to court over it!” I exclaim.
Lief grumbles, “This sounds like a movie. You girls all watch too many romcoms.”
“Says the lonely brother,” Meadow teases. “The fact you even know what a romcom is explains so much, Lief.”
“I. Have. Sisters,” he says through gritted teeth. He swipes his hand through his hair, clearly agitated with us.
“Anyway, how do I mention this? I don’t want to look stupid by bringing up a childhood story. I don't want to look desperate, like I’m looking to marry him. I just need answers. I need to know if there’s still a chance.”After everything. I can’t say what everything is, but that’s my biggest fear and something I will keep to myself.
Lief pauses as we fall silent. “Why don’t you let me talk to him?” he asks.
“And say what?” Meadow asks. “Lief, don’t make it weird. This isn’t junior high and we’re not playing telephone.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not going to be a dick, Mead. Bennett and I are cool. It wouldn't be weird, and I can see where his head is at. It’s not a big deal. And considering Blossom is my favorite sister, I’ll gladly do it.”
January and Meadow both begin to protest then stop as they look at each other and shrug. “Fair,” they say in unison.
“I saw his ex-girlfriend commenting on their picture on Instagram. What if they’re getting back together?” I begin to get nervous. “I don’t know. Maybe don’t say anything. I'll just see how things play out.”
Meadow reaches for my hand and says, “You’ve beenseeing how things play out for years, Blossom. Time to make a move.”
She’s absolutely right. It’s time to make a move. I need to know where his head is at in order to move forward. And it’s only fair I let him know it wasn’t my choice to let him go.
Life would have looked very different if I had told him.
But some secrets are best kept to yourself.
