Saturday afternoon, Nadine volunteered Reen and Brody for a repeat performance of lunch duty. There was no way Reen could refuse, but she wished her friend would have asked first. Though, if Reen were more open with her conflicted feelings about Brody, she doubted Nadine would have requested her. But it was too late now since Brody was already on his way.
It was even hotter than the day before. Reen’s hair stuck to her bare shoulders, so she pulled it into a ponytail as she made her way to the parking area where Brody had left his truck. She’d managed to avoid him all day, and she wondered if he’d done the same. She hadn’t seen a glimpse of him since last night.
As she approached, Brody lifted a bigger cooler from the back. This one didn’t have wheels.
The Siren’s logo was etched into the plastic sides.
‘Hey,’ she said, not wanting to startle him. ‘You need a hand?’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘We’re going to have to carry this.’ The muscles in his arms tensed as he lowered the cooler to the ground. He stood up and raked a hand through his hair before lifting his shirt to wipe his face.
Her gaze shot to his flat stomach.
‘You don’t have a cart or anything?’ she asked, focusing on his sunglasses instead.
‘No. I keep trying to get Missy to buy a new cooler, but she refuses.’
‘Tough boss.’
He smirked. ‘The toughest.’ Bending down, he lifted one side.
She let out a grunt as she lifted the handle.
‘It’s not that heavy,’ he said grinning.
Using two hands, she adjusted her grip. ‘Let’s empty this and then it won’t be.’
‘I hope things weren’t awkward between you and Krystal yesterday,’ Brody said.
Reen forced a shrug. ‘Why would they be?’ She hoped he didn’t hear the tremble in her voice. As much as she thought she could outrun their past, until they talked about it everything was going to be weird between them.
‘I did tell her about you. About us.’
‘What did you say?’ Reen asked.
He cleared his throat, squinting up ahead. ‘She asked why I didn’t date locals. Somehow it came up in conversation.’
‘What does that have to do with me?’
‘I shouldn’t have said anything – you coming back here makes this hard. I just – I wanted to clear the air and make sure we were good.’
Reen dropped her side of the cooler to the ground. At that moment, there was nothing more she wanted than for him to explain himself. ‘You mentioned it for a reason. Tell me.’
He held on to the cooler as if keeping it between them protected him somehow.
For a moment, she saw the boy she’d dated all those years ago. It had been an awkward first few weeks before they got into the swing of things. The man standing in front of her was the friend from before they took their relationship to another level, as well as the one she’d snuggled with in the back of the movie theater.
‘What do you want me to say, Reen? I know Missy already blurted out how I felt about you leaving. While I don’t want to get into how pissed I am with her for doing that, I want you to know how I feel.’ His voice grew louder, and more than one person looked their way.
‘How do you feel?’ she asked, a little breathless. When she’d first left, she was so angry with Mom. She didn’t think about how Brody might feel. At least not right away. As she’d wanted to leave The Burrow quickly and without ties, she didn’t contact anyone. Eventually, she knew it was a big mistake, and when she tried to connect with him again, Missy had stepped in and warned Rose, who, in turn, told Reen not to try to speak with him after what she’d done. Reen wondered if Brody knew that.
‘Now? I don’t feel much. But when you left, it hurt.’
Her cheeks flamed, and she wasn’t sure what to say anymore. Nothing could have prepared her for this conversation. She’d expected to be in and out of this town in one day. Now a question faced her, which had riddled her brain for years. All the ‘what if’ scenarios flew from her mind and she didn’t have anything to say.
He stared at her, waiting for a response. He deserved it. Everyone she’d left behind did. Yet, she couldn’t offer one.
‘We should keep going before this food goes bad,’ she said, lifting her side of the cooler.
His usually playful and sparkling eyes turned dull and emotionless. Without another word, he nodded, and they carried on their way.
The last fifteen minutes were torturous. Neither of them spoke to each other, even though there were plenty of words zipping through her mind. Once they’d dropped off the last meal, Brody lifted the cooler on his own and headed back to his truck. She didn’t run after him, and he didn’t say goodbye.