CHAPTER NINETEEN
The entire town of Hope Falls had gone stupid. Bristol thought she’d be able to count on resident outrage that Beau had lied to her face, swept her off her feet, and then vanished on her. He was an outsider who had misled an entire town.
However, Bristol had seriously underestimated Beau’s charm.
Two days after Savannah’s wedding, she and Violet had run into Mr. Maybry and Lauren Stevens, real estate agent and TV host extraordinaire, on the street outside Early Bird.
“Have you heard about your new neighbor?” Mr. Maybry, his white hair tucked under his ever-present baseball hat asked gleefully.
“I haven’t,” Bristol said. “Is the hardware store reopening?”
“Reopening with myself at the helm, and the second and third floors are going to be renovated into apartments,” Mr. Maybry announced proudly, his white moustache obscuring part of his smile.
“That’s wonderful!” Bristol said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m so happy to have you back.”
Violet beckoned him down to her level. “Will there be lollipops?”
He chuckled and rummaged through his jacket pockets before producing a lollipop. “For you, my dear, there will always be lollipops.”
“This is so great!” Violet said, shredding the wrapper and popping the candy into her mouth.
“So who’s the proud new owner?” Bristol asked.
Lauren suddenly became very distracted by her phone, and Bristol felt the pit of her stomach drop out.
“That’s the best part!” Mr. Maybry clapped his hands. “This big time hockey player and his sister are moving here and—”
“Beau Evanko bought the building?” Bristol asked Lauren accusingly.
“Oh, hey! Look at the time. Mr. Maybry and I have to meet the contractors, so we’ll just get out of your way.” Lauren hustled him through the door of the hardware store before Bristol could ask any more questions.
“Mom, is Beau going to be our neighbor?” Violet asked.
She hoped not. She really, really hoped not.
The next morning, she was helping Edwin get ready to open Early Bird when she spotted Beau heading for the front door of Lucky’s gym. She was going to put an end to this idiocy once and for all.
She stormed out of the restaurant and crossed the street. “Hey, Beau!”
He turned at his name, and his face lit up when he saw her barreling at him.
“No! Do not make that face. This is not a happy visit,” she snapped.
“I can’t help how I look at you,” Beau said, grinning at her irrational demand.
“You’re not moving to Hope Falls, you’re not buying the hardware store building, you’re not weaseling your way back into my life.” She jabbed a finger into his chest with every item on his “not doing” list.
“Gorgeous, you know I hate to disagree with you. But I already moved to Hope Falls, and I already bought the hardware store and building. And I will earn a second chance with you. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes. I will wear you down.”
“You are insane.”
“I’m not insane. I’m hopeful,” he corrected.
“Why are you trying to ruin my life?” Bristol demanded and barely resisted stomping her foot.
His face turned serious, and he cupped his hand to her cheek. “Bristol, I’m not doing any of this to hurt you. I love you. Now put this on and go back inside.”
He shucked off his jacket, which was eight sizes too big for her and tucked her into it. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then pushed her in the general direction of Early Bird.
She’d stormed out of her place of business without a coat in the dead of winter to scream at a man in the street. In a normal town, no one would ever find out about her mini breakdown at five in the morning. But not Hope Falls.
No, she spent the entire morning listening to people advise her on how to forgive him and say things like “what a lovely man that Beau Evanko is.” While the subtle ones sang his praises, the bold ones laid it all out for Bristol.
“Mark my words. You wait too long to forgive this one, and someone else will be less stupid and more forgiving and snatch him away,” warned Renata Blackstone, pointing an unpainted finger at her.
“Look, honey. We want you to be happy, and the rest of us can see clear as day that that boy loves you. You’ve got to give him a second chance. You’re meant to be,” Sue Ann had announced at the head of the line.
The seven people behind her waiting to order all nodded in agreement.
“You really have to think about this, Bristol. Hope brought him here. It’s fate,” Marlene Brooks from Two Scoops called out.
Life couldn’t be this against her, Bristol insisted.
But it was, and it continued to be. He ate at Early Bird every damn morning. Margo and Edwin ignored her orders to stop serving him and fed him whatever his cruel, lying heart desired. And she caught herself looking at him every five seconds or so because who wouldn’t? He seemed to get better and better looking just to torture her. And, of course, he was the one to grab the mop when she failed to secure the lid on the fresh thermos of dark roast and proceeded to dump it all over the floor. And, of course, he hopped behind the counter and grabbed an apron and ran dishes from kitchen to counter when Maya called in sick.
When Bristol filled in for a shift at Sue Ann’s, Beau and Alli showed up for dinner. When she showed up at her parents’ house for Sunday lunch, Beau and Alli were there. She’d tried to sneak out the back door while Beau shoveled the walkway out front, but Alli had barred her way and insisted she stay and chat.
Construction started immediately next door, and the Hope Falls Gazette gleefully printed a front page interview with Beau about his plans for Pollard’s Hardware and the building. Rumor had it he was also working on some top secret deal with Lucky Dorsey.
Beau showed up for Violet’s next hockey game but stayed in the stands where, instead of being picked apart by angry parents, he signed autographs and cheered next to Nolan. Lissa, for her part, wasn’t as big of a sucker for Beau as the rest of town and stationed herself behind the team bench to give Bristol her support. When Violet scored a goal, Bristol happened to peer over her shoulder and catch Nolan and Beau jumping to their feet and chest bumping.
That’s when she realized she was going to have to resign herself to Beau’s presence in Hope Falls.
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“What?” Bristol grumbled into the phone. She’d fallen asleep on the couch yet again in yet another prime example of the sad, single mother life when her daughter was spending the night with her father and stepmother. The incessant ringing of her phone broke through her sleep fog.
“Have you seen Alli?” Beau’s voice was frantic on the other end.
Bristol sat up and yawned. “No, is she missing?”
“She was acting all mopey and angsty today, and when I came back from picking up snacks, she was gone. She left a note saying she caught a ride into town with Shelby.”
“Did you try her phone?” Bristol asked, hurrying into her bedroom for pants and shoes.
“No, I didn’t think of that. Of course I tried her phone, genius.”
“Add that to the list of things Beau needs to apologize to Bristol for,” she grumbled, shoving her feet into a pair of fleece-lined boots.
“Sorry. I’m sorry, Bristol. I’m just…”
“Worried. I know. It’s going to be fine. It’s Hope Falls. There’s no bad side of the tracks here. You take this side of Main Street, and I’ll work on the other. I’ll text you if I find her.”
“Thank you. I love you. You’re literally the best woman in the world.”
“Don’t make this weird. I’m not doing you a favor. I’m doing Alli a favor. Got it?”
“I still love you.”
“Ugh!” She hung up on him and ignored the warm, gooey sensation in her chest. Bristol grabbed a hat and her parka and headed out the door.
She crossed the street and peeked into Lucky’s gym, which was dark and empty. The fire station was buttoned up tight, too. Alli was probably just working out some teenage stuff that an overbearing older brother couldn’t help with... or maybe even caused. It hadn’t been that long since Bristol had been a teenager. She remembered what it was like to feel misunderstood and lost. Hell, she felt that way now.
A thought struck her as she crossed the street and headed toward the used bookstore. Hope, in all her goodness, had more than her fair share of angst as a teenager, and there was one spot that she habitually visited when she was feeling particularly angsty.
It was a long shot, but it was better than wandering around the deserted downtown in frigid winter temperatures.
Bristol turned off of Main Street and headed toward the green of Riverside Recreation Area. The park boasted tall, snow-laden pines and a meandering paved path that paralleled the river. A large picnic area was tucked away in the evergreens and served as the backdrop for the Annual Christmas Eve Carnival. It was a peaceful patch of nature right in Hope Falls’ own backyard and it was decked out in Christmas light finery. The trees twinkled with lights. The lampposts that lit the path were decked with silvery snowflakes. And the evergreens that flanked the pavilion were drenched in cheerful colored lights.
Bristol wandered the familiar path and enjoyed the special silence that only a winter night could provide. Life had become nosier since Beau’s return, since the entire town seemed hell bent on getting her to forgive him. There were moments, brief and bright, that had her wondering why she was carrying the grudge.
She had a gorgeous man capable of making her feel again, who insisted that he was in love with her and wanted to carve out a spot in her family, her life, her town. But still she hesitated. As attracted as she was to him, he had lied to her.
It came down to loyalty, she thought. Beau was loyal to Alli and the small family they’d built. Bristol understood that and could even respect it. She felt the same protectiveness toward her own family. But Beau had put his family above hers, and while she could understand the circumstances and the decision on his part to continue the deception, she just wasn’t ready to forgive it.
She wanted to. The way Violet looked up to Beau, the way Alli fit so well with the Quinns, the way Beau looked at her—she wanted it all. But how could she move past the deception? She needed more time, and if she was honest with herself, she thought that, if Beau had more time, he would very likely change his mind. What could she offer him that any one of those beautiful women he’d dated couldn’t? What could Hope Falls give him that Chicago and an exciting career couldn’t? She didn’t want to commit and get attached only for him to change his mind.
A splash from the river caught her attention and through the dim light from the lamppost behind her, she spotted a lone figure leaning morosely on the walking bridge over the water.
For a second her heart stopped. It was Hope’s bridge. This was the spot that her sister would come to when she needed to work out something particularly teenager-y, tossing stones into the water just as the figure was doing now.
“Alli?”
“Oh, geez. Did Beau send you? He seriously needs to get a life. I’m eighteen, and I can’t even talk a walk by myself?”
Bristol stepped onto the bridge, still rocked to find Alli in the same spot Hope had spent so much time in.
“He was worried.”
“I swear to God he thinks I’m going to drop dead of a heart attack if I’m not under 24/7 supervision,” Alli said, tossing another rock into the black waters beneath the bridge.
“Uh, can you blame him? You almost died.”
“Well, I’m alive now, aren’t I?”
Clearly Alli wasn’t thrilled with that reality at the moment.
“Wanna talk?” Bristol asked, sliding into the position she’d assumed when Hope needed talked down from something. She slid her legs between supports and let them dangle into space.
“No,” Alli said definitively. “I don’t have anything to say. It’s not like I have anything worthwhile to say anyway. I’m not her!”
“Who?”
Alli rolled her eyes. “Hope. I’m not Hope.”
“Who said you should be?” Bristol wasn’t sure if pointing out the fact that Alli was currently acting exactly as eighteen-year-old Hope had would hurt or help.
“No one. Everyone.” Alli threw her arms up toward the sky. “It’s like everyone is telling me what an amazing person she was, and that’s serious pressure, you know?”
“What do you mean?” Bristol was stymied now.
Alli flopped down next to her and dangled her legs over the side of the bridge. “A trauma surgeon? I mean seriously, couldn’t she have been a guidance counselor or a daycare provider? Something normal? Do you know what kind of pressure I’m under now? I have the heart of a girl who saved lives and not just by dying. EMT, medical school, residency,” Alli ticked Hope’s accomplishments off on her fingers. “How am I going to live up to that?”
Bristol grabbed her arm. “By living, dummy. You didn’t take Hope’s place. You didn’t end her life. You got a great, amazing, wonderful gift, and now you need to go spend your life following your dreams. Not someone else’s.”
Alli took a deep shuddering breath. “I don’t want to let you down,” she said, tears glistening in her emerald eyes. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here today.”
“Ah, crap,” Bristol threw her arms up and looked up at the night sky. “A little help here! We don’t know what the hell we’re doing down here, Hope!”
Alli sniffled wetly, and Bristol sighed. She dug out a tissue from her pocket stash that she kept religiously replenished and handed it over. “Look. I have no idea how to process this either from my end. Yes, my sister was an incredible person, a hero. But the girl I miss? She wasn’t Wonder Woman. She snort laughed and couldn’t drink soda without getting the hiccups. I miss that. And I think it sucks that she had to die, and I think it’s amazing that you are here getting a second chance. It makes it seem like less of a waste, you know?”
“I guess so.” Alli blew her nose. “It’s like I’m so happy and so sad at the same time. I’m here, but your sister isn’t. What’s so important about me that I get to live when her life ended? And what if I fuck it all up?”
“Alli, I don’t think you’re here because she died. I think it was her time. Period. And we thankfully just made the right call afterwards. You’re not going to fuck it all up,” Bristol sighed.
“How do you know?”
“Well, for one, your brother won’t let you.”
“Beau is driving me insane. He’s up my ass all the time, making sure I feel okay and that I’m taking my meds and blah blah blah.”
“He thought he was going to lose you. He’s entitled to be an overprotective ass for a little while. If the timing hadn’t been exactly right, he could be missing you right now instead of smothering you.”
“He’s in love with you, you know.”
Bristol rolled her eyes heavenward again. “He’s got a funny way of showing it.”
“Look, I probably don’t need to tell you this, but Beau is incredibly protective. He once knocked a guy’s teeth out on the ice for running his mouth about me when I was fifteen.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“That’s hockey,” Alli smirked. “But my point is, he came here to make sure that there were no threats to me before telling me about your letter. He wanted to play the overprotective big brother card yet again. I’d been asking to meet you since the surgery, and I didn’t even know about the letter. He told me he was spending Thanksgiving with friends on the West Coast.”
“Oh, well at least I’m not the only woman he lies to.”
Alli lifted a shoulder. “All I’m saying is I met your family, and I know there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to protect them. Beau came here thinking he was protecting me, and instead he got kicked in the balls with love. I think he was half in love with you before he even got here. When he finally showed me your letter, the folds were so deep I thought he must have read it a million times.”
Bristol sighed. “I get that he was protecting you. But he continued to lie long after he assessed my threat level.”
“Well, he’s a guy. He was in over his head, and he realized that nothing but the biggest, most heartfelt, most over-the-top apology was going to fix this.”
“Oh, really? And when am I going to witness that?”
Alli studiously avoided eye contact. “I guess we’ll see.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes surrounded by the twinkle of Christmas lights and the glitter of snow.
“I know I’m fighting it right now, but do you think there’s a possibility this was all… I don’t know… meant to be?” Alli asked.
“Like fate?” Bristol prompted.
“Think about it,” Alli said. “Hope dies, you make the call on donating her organs, and boom—my life is saved. Beau comes out here and falls head over ass in love with you, drags me out here, and we all just… fit. Your family is awesome. You’re exactly what my friends had growing up. Don’t get me wrong, Beau was awesome to me. But we both missed out on this. I don’t think any of this is a coincidence.”
“You think Hope is out there pulling these ethereal puppet strings?” Bristol wasn’t sure if she was appalled or comforted by the thought.
“I kinda do,” Alli shrugged.
Had Hope sent her Beau and Alli? Was that even a possibility? And what would it mean if she rejected Beau and his demands for a second chance. Would she be turning her back on her sister?
“So what do you want to do with your life?” Bristol asked, desperate to change the subject.
Alli snorted, effortlessly shifting gears back into her downward spiral. “I have no clue! I’m eighteen, and I have to redo my senior year of high school. I really don’t think I’d be a good trauma surgeon, though. I puke when I see blood unless it’s on the ice.”
“You don’t have to be Hope,” Bristol groaned. “You have to be happy. What makes you happy?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Bristol laughed. “What about puppies? Everybody loves puppies?”
Alli gave a mournful, one-shoulder shrug. “I guess they’re okay.”
“Okay, now you’re just being insane,” Bristol teased.
The corner of Alli’s mouth turned up. “It’s just a lot of pressure, you know? Second chance, Hope’s heart—it’s a really big deal, and I don’t want to screw it up.”
“Look at it this way. You get a second chance to really choose the life you want to have, not just whatever path you were on before. And my sister finally gets to have some fun living through you.”
“Go on,” Alli said with suspicion.
“My sister spent most of her last few years in classrooms and crashing in on-call rooms. She missed out on the normal fun rights of passage that the rest of us enjoy because she was so focused on her goals. For Savannah’s bachelorette party, Hope actually suggested we hit happy hour at the bar down the street from her hospital.”
Alli snorted.
“She had no clue what fun was, except for the Christmas Eve Carnival and her movie nights with Violet and me. You’re her second chance at fun. Make out with boys, do a naked 5k, jump in the car and drive to the beach with friends for a weekend. Make the most of your time here. That’s the best way to honor Hope’s heart and your own second chance.”
“Wow,” Alli frowned. “You’re really good at this.”
“Awh. Thanks. I need the practice. My daughter will be you in ten years.”
“Beau would have just been like ‘You have a new heart! Stop fucking it up and be happy!’” she said in a deep baritone.
“That’s a really reasonable impression of him,” Bristol said, taking her phone out of her pocket. “Listen, I’m going to text him and tell him you’re alive and well.”
“Ugh, fine,” Alli groaned. “But I don’t want to go back so he can hover over me and hound me about when I think you’re going to forgive him.”
“How do you feel about frozen pizza rolls and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” Bristol offered.
“Do these foods involve me not going back to the B&B?”
“You can stay at my place tonight. I’m sure you and your brother could use some quality time apart.”
“Yes please! As long as you promise not to tell me Hope also adopted eighteen children from third-world countries and won a Nobel Prize.”
“Deal. As long as you don’t try to convince me to give your brother a second chance.”