Page 32 of Beneath the Scars
My gaze stays glued to the table. I fidget with my empty beer bottle instead of engaging in my friends’ guesses. Not a single one of my friends knows about my feelings for her.
I glance around only to meet Carson’s green-eyed gaze. He raises an eyebrow at me, and it’s only decades of carefullycrafted control that keeps me from crumbling under the weight of his stare.
It seems I underestimated my best friend’s observational skills.
Carson smirks but lets me off the hook. “What about that guy who came to visit her a couple weeks ago?”
“Oh, that was Zane,” Ryan answers. “Seems like a good guy, but Addie told me he’s gay, so I’m pretty positive it’s not him.”
“Though you never know with sexuality.” Gia tips her bottle at Ryan, who nods in agreement.
A tension I hadn’t known I’d been holding floats away with Ryan’s statement. I’d never tell Adalaide she couldn’t hang out with someone, but the jealousy would’ve eaten me alive if he felt like competition.
“Whoever she’s seeing, we all know he’ll be worthy of her,” Carson says, his eyes meeting mine. “She’d never allow anyone close to her if they weren’t.”
“Hear, hear.” Lottie holds up her beer.
Their words settle around me like a blanket of acceptance, one I’m not sure I deserve. Since we were kids, these people have been by my side, propping me up every time I needed bolstering. There’s never been a single moment since I came to Sonoma when my family made me feel like a burden. I still felt like one, but I always knew it was my own insecurities talking and not something they did.
Carson’s belief in Addie, and me by extension, means more than I could ever express.
“Has anyone gone by Miss Alice’s recently?” Lottie asks.
Miss Alice runs the local historical society. When we found out she lives in the huge Victorian home by herself, we promised to visit her more often. None of her family lives in town, so our group has sort of adopted her as a pseudo-grandmother.
“I went over there a couple weeks ago,” Gia answers.
“We should take Nina to meet her,” Carson suggests to Ginny.
“I’ll come too,” I say. “She mentioned she’s got a light bulb out in her closet the other day when I saw her in town.”
“Bring an empty stomach. The woman force-fed me a huge brunch when I arrived,” Gia teases.
“I’m sure you hated every minute of it,” Carson throws back.
Gia grins. “It was the worst. I took home leftovers.”
The room fills with laughter, overflowing with the bonds of friendship not easily broken. I soak it in as I always do, grateful to be sitting here instead of facing the more typical outcome for kids like me who had to go through the foster care system.
After another hour at Teddy and Lottie’s house, Ryan and I decide to head home. A comfortable silence hangs over us as I drive. The town is quiet. Almost everyone has already gone home or is in bed by now.
“Do you think it’s serious?” Ryan’s soft voice fills the cab of my truck.
“What?”
“Addie’s relationship.”
I swallow hard. “Um. I don’t know. She hasn’t brought it up to you?”
“Not yet.”
“Then maybe she’s still deciding if it is.”
“Maybe. She never discusses her dating life with us, so Dad knowing something is going on is a big deal.”
“True.”
“I hope she knows she can talk to me.” The worry in Ryan’s words makes my stomach roll.
