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“Everybody likes a welcome basket, Rory. Even if it’s a welcome-back basket.”

“Well. I’ll get on that. And I’ll get the place clean. Do you know when he’s expected?”

“When’s the parade scheduled for?” Fia asked.

She laughed. “I thought that was this weekend.”

“Oh. Well, then he’s coming ahead of the parade. Because I think he said today sometime. But it might be late. I don’t know. I suppose you could text Lydia and ask. Otherwise, I have his contact information somewhere.”

“It’s okay. I’ll just make it my focus for the day.”

She was happy, actually, to have an excuse to work on something as solitary as cleaning.

It would give her time to think about how exactly she was going to accomplish her goals.

And to forget about the mystery man and her moment of temporary insanity.

But maybe being somewhat adjacent to Gideon would be helpful.

After all, being in proximity to a local legend might give her some ideas on how to achieve legend status herself.

People told stories about him down at the diner. There was a hamburger named after him—The Legend.

He had been the football star at the local high school. He had set records in track and field in the state of Oregon—which was unheard of in a school the size of theirs. He had been the golden boy.

The one everyone admired.

There were whispered stories about his looks and his sexual prowess—which Lydia had always gagged and retched about because, after all, he was Lydia’s older brother. Rory had secretly been scandalized, heartbroken and intrigued. Though she could never ever tell Lydia. He was Lydia’s older brother, after all, and everyone liked Gideon most of all. Rory having a crush on him would have been a huge betrayal.

It was the one secret she’d ever kept from her friend, but consequently she also didn’t often ask Lydia about Gideon because she felt like it seemed...obvious.

Anyway, there was a point where everyone had known. After...The Diary Incident. When the mean girls who’d tormented Rory had upped their game and subjected her to the most wounding, deeply humiliating experience of her life.

And Gideon had saved her.

He was a hero.Herhero.

But heroes didn’t stay around. They had to go off and join the military. He’d left town under a cloud of confetti, riding on a white convertible and waving.

Her heart had broken.

Because the one person who’d made her truly brave was leaving.

She’d kept up on his accomplishments through the years via Lydia’s mom’s Christmas letter she sent out, but otherwise...

She hadn’t kept up. She hadn’t felt worthy of it, or of him, really. After all, he’d never mocked her when her love poetry had been made public. Instead he’d walked into the school with his hand on her shoulder and when one of the bullies had approached them, he’d told them to go straight to hell.

Don’t let the bastards get you down, Rory. You’re meant for bigger things than this place.

No one else had ever said anything like that to her. No one else had ever looked at her and seen more. But then she’d gone away to school and she...she’d run. She’d felt like she’d let him down in that way, even though he was off fighting in a war and she was sure he didn’t actually keep tabs on what his little sister’s best friend was up to.

So she’d tried not to think about him.

Until three years ago when he’d gotten injured in Afghanistan.

Rory, Gideon was hurt in an attack today. They’re flying him to Germany.

She could still remember her friend’s desperate, tearful phone call.