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“We, meaning…”
“My family,” I interject. “We do it every year.”
She nods then tugs a piece of hair out of her mouth. “This is my friend Cindy. I think you guys met when we went to…”
“The Cedar Cider opening, yeah I remember,” he says, giving her a friendly nod. He pauses, his eyes connecting with mine briefly before he looks back at Sarah and Cindy. “Cindy, this is my friend Busy and her daughter Junie.”
I wave, trying to keep a friendly smile on my face, but all I can focus on is the fact that he called me hisfriend. Again.
Is that still all we are?
Thankfully, at that exact moment, I spot my sister and her husband emerging through the trees. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“My family is here,” I say to Reid, before I turn to Sarah and Cindy. “Nice to see you. Enjoy the rest of your hike.”
I jog over to where Briar and Andy are walking in my direction, meeting them in the middle. I fling my arms around my sister’s shoulders, and she embraces me right back.
“Hey!” she exclaims, laughing lightly. “Everything okay?”
When I don’t respond, she pulls back, a concerned look on her face, then her eyes slide past me to where Reid is still talking.
“Is that…Reid? And Sarah?”
I nod.
“Is he going on the hike with us?” Andy asks, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Because I don’t know how I feel about you two sharing a tent.”
Briar smacks him in the arm, and he chuckles.
“Everything’s fine, it’s just…weird, seeing him with Sarah.” I glance back in their direction. “I think they still talk pretty regularly.”
“I mean, does that matter?” Briar asks me. “You guys are just friends, right?”
My eyes connect with hers, and then her mouth forms a small ‘O’ as she nods.
“Gotcha. Well, he’s walking over here, so we’ll talk more about this later.”
I spin around, giving Reid a smile as he approaches, Junie still on his shoulders. A quick look at his face says he feels just as uneasy about that conversation as I did. Which is, frankly, a relief.
“Hey! Glad you’re joining us,” Andy says, sticking his hand out. “It’s been a while.”
Reid shakes it and nods. “It has. Good to see you.”
“Where is everyone else?” I ask.
“Here we are!”
I beam as the rest of my family emerges through the trees, the mass of them sweaty and dusty, but with big smiles on their faces. Along with Briar and Andy are my oldest brother, Boyd, and his wife, Ruby; my sister Bellamy and her boyfriend, Rusty; my brother Bishop and his wife, Gabi; and my parents. There is a chorus of hellos and hugs, especially with Bishop and Gabi, who just got in yesterday from North Carolina.
“Hey, Little Bee,” he says, wrapping his sweaty arms around me and giving me a good squeeze.
I grin at the nickname. “I’m surprised they let you take days off.”
“They don’t,” he replies, chuckling. Then he pulls back to look at me. “I’m not actually supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be on a plane heading to Seattle, but…” He shrugs. “I’ll be there for the game on Monday. They don’t need to know every single thing I’m doing.”
I laugh and look at his wife, Gabi, who I’ve known since we were teenagers. “I still can’t believe you put up with him.”
She raises an eyebrow and gives Bishop a once-over. “Me neither.”
