“Emma!”
She turned at the excited greeting to find another good friend, Brooke Velasquez, heading toward her, arms outstretched. Brooke didn’t appear to have changed at all fromhigh school. She was still short, cute, bubbling over with energy.
“I am so darn happy to see you,” Brooke said as she first hugged Emma then did the same to Josie.
“I’d heard through the grapevine that you were back in town, but I’ve been so busy at work this month, I haven’t had five minutes to drive down to see for myself. I came down for a few days for my dad’s birthday and when my folks said they wanted to come to a party here tonight, I tagged along, hoping I would see you.”
“Here I am.”
Emma forced a smile, though she again felt uncomfortable. What did her friends see when they looked at her? With her purple-tipped hair, her tattoos, her piercings, she was a far cry from the popular, outgoing girl she had been before that horrible day when her dad died.
“Where are you these days?” she asked Brooke.
“I bought a condo in Newport a few months ago. It’s closer to my work at the hospital there.”
She knew from their social media friendship that Brooke worked as an X-ray technician and loved every minute of it.
“Well, you look fantastic,” Emma said. “Like you still should be cheering at the fifty-yard line down at the high school.”
Brooke grimaced. “Not in a million years. I’m so glad to be done with high school and college.”
“Same,” Josie said fervently.
Emma had left before graduation and had gone to college mostly online, studying at night while her baby slept. She told herself again to take pride in how far she had come, not feel an ounce of embarrassment at the nontraditional path she had taken.
“And you’re running your mom’s bookstore. What a dream job!” Brooke exclaimed.
“It’s getting there,” Emma answered. “I still have a long way to go, though.”
“She’s doing a big reno. And guess who’s helping her?” Josie asked, then answered before Brooke could try. “Bryce Kendall.”
The other woman made a low sound of appreciation in her throat. “Lucky you!” she said. “The man is fire, as my younger sister would say.”
“Definitely,” Josie said. “He’s a lot different from the annoying pest he was in fifth grade. Remember how he always teased you at recess and loved to pull your hair?”
“I always thought he had a thing for you,” Brooke said to Emma. “He watched you a lot when we were in school.”
Emma could feel her face heat and hoped the twilight disguised her reaction from her friends.
“I doubt that. If he watched me at all, he was probably only trying to figure out the next way he could make my life harder.”
“Speak of the devil,” Josie said, gesturing with her head.
All three of them turned to see Bryce walk into the backyard carrying a box from a bakery up in Lincoln City. As they watched, Rosie hurried to him and hugged him, taking the box from him with a scolding kind of look.
“Fire. That man sizzles,” Brooke said.
“You are an engaged woman,” Josie reminded her.
“I am, and I adore my fiancé. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good-looking guy like Bryce.”
“Engaged,” Emma exclaimed. “I hadn’t heard that. Congrats! Who is he?”
“His name is Ben Warner, and he’s a hospitalist where I work.”
“Why didn’t you bring him tonight? I would have loved to meet him,” she said.
“He was working. Had a late shift this week, unfortunately. When he’s not working, we tend to be out having adventures.”