Page 64 of You Met Me There

I don’t tell her that, of course. I don’t tell anyone that part of my life—only Luke and Emma. But Luke is the only one who knows how bad my dreams really are, how they affect my waking moments.

I look at the dirt on the ground, wishing I could bury my guilt and shame under the stones. I’d like to walk all over it, stomp on it, and leave it here behind me for good.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” Jules’s voice is gentle—the most gentle I’ve heard it since I was a child. “Life wasn’t easy for me either when you left.”

My head lifts and I look at her. She’s watching Dax as she smoothes his white fur down his back. He closes his eyes against the sunshine, tongue lolling to the side in the most doglike show of contentment.

“When Tyler left first,” she says, “and then Mom and Dad not long after, I was alone. I had Ali, but I didn’t see a way forward for a long time. I thought I’d be by myself, waiting for—” She fidgets with her shoelace. “Waiting for something to happen. For something to come along.” She smiles sadly.

“Is that when you saw Cam again?”

Her smile turns warm. “That’s when he moved back from Washington. And the funny thing is, he saw my sadness and he wanted me anyway. Not at first.” She laughs and shakes her head at a memory. “He actually tried very hard to not like me.”

“What? Why?” I grin.

“His own baggage got in the way for a while.”

I exhale, letting my lips flap loudly as the wind passes them. “I guess we all go through crap.”

She tilts her head, stretching her legs in front of her. “We all just handle it differently, but yeah. We all have crap. Bags and bags and bags of crap.”

“A shit ton of crap,” I agree. We laugh, and it feels good to laugh with her. Like she’s my friend again. Like maybe we have a chance at really repairing the cracks in the walls and removing the stagnant water that seeped in.

She takes another swig from her bottle. “Well, are you ready to head back? You can come over. Archie’s been asking about you.”

“He has?”

“Both the boys have. They ask to see you every day. Come to think of it, even Dad’s been bugging me to have you over.” She rolls her eyes at the sky.

“Really? I didn’t know they—if you …” I swallow the lump gathering in my throat. “I’d love to come over.”

“Alrighty then.” She stands, wiping the dust from the back of her shorts. “Let’s get going. After this heat, a jump in the lake actually sounds nice right now, doesn’t it?”

“That sounds amazing.” I jump up from my rock and take one more look out at the trees and mountains we came to see. I pull out my phone and snap a photo of the view, sending it to Emma.

Me: The hike’s been good, but the view is amazing.

After being up here, I feel more at peace than I have in a very long time.

Chapter 32

Natalie

“Ican’t believe you’re really here!” Tyler shouts, squishing me in a tight brotherly hug. He smells like raspberries. “It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Ty.” I smile against his shoulder.

He holds me at arm’s length. “You cut your hair! You’re blonde!” He pulls on the ends of my hair.

I giggle. “Yeah, it’s been like this for a while. Do you like it?”

“Duh, I like it. Now you look more like me.” He runs a big hand against my head, ruffling my waves.

Tyler is tall and blond, and his arms and shoulders are broad and toned.

I shove him away with a smile on my lips. “I see you haven’t changed a bit.”

“Nah, didn’t want to. Growing up is for the birds.”