Page 15

FIFTEEN

lauren

As I pull into the gravel lot of the Bear Creek Lodge, I put my car in park and check my phone one last time for any lingering PR disasters. Nothing urgent. No viral photos. No panicked emails from the boss. Just a blissfully quiet inbox.

The players already said their goodbyes, and for the first time in months, I’m officially off duty. A whole week with no media fires to put out.

Just me, the forest, and my wildly unpredictable family. Let the mayhem begin.

Before I can even get out of the car, a message from Tate pops up.

Tate

If you still need someone to attend that reunion, the offer stands. Might solve your Bart problem.

Me

I’ll handle Bart just fine. Enjoy your week at the cabin working on…what exactly are you working on?

Tate

Something top secret. If I told you, I’d have to distract you with my “assets” again.

Me

Bold of you to assume your “assets” are that powerful.

Okay, so they are that powerful. But he doesn’t need to know that.

I hit send and tuck my phone into my purse. Tate told me earlier he is taking Annie with him to socialize her—a blatant excuse to cuddle her more. That dog has officially stamped her tiny paw print on his tightly locked heart and seems to be the only one who can make him smile.

Well, her and me.

But his smiles are mostly just to torment me with those ridiculous dimples. I’m convinced he uses them to make me forget my point. Unfortunately, it’s working.

I twirl Mom’s ring as I look over the Bear Creek Lodge, a sprawling log cabin with a wraparound porch and enough bedrooms for our entire family.

The yard is perfect for our Family Olympics, with hiking trails through the woods behind the house.

Most years, this place held my sweetest memories—shared meals, campfires, late-night pranks, and friendly competitions.

But this year, I can’t even think about those memories.

Every time I picture myself here, Mom is beside me, laughing over a private joke, trash-talking me in a game, and sharing her homemade pies. I thought one year would be enough to heal, enough time to pull together the broken pieces of my heart.

How wrong I was.

Nobody told me the truth about grief—that you’re never really over it. You just learn to keep breathing, to put one foot in front of the other, and to navigate what everyone insists on calling your “new normal.”

And that’s another thing no one tells you. How much you’ll hate the term “new normal.” Because nothing is normal after grief.

The only reason I’m here is because of a promise I made. A promise I wish didn’t cause a dull ache inside my chest.

Before getting out of the car, I take a deep breath and whisper, “This one’s for you, Mom.”

When I step inside the house, hauling my rolling case behind me, Olivia is already organizing her list of schedules and room assignments, looking like she’s had way too much fun with colored paper and matching sticky notes.

“Hey, Liv. You look incredibly organized, as usual.” I drop my luggage by the table. “So, who am I rooming with this year?” I’m hoping for one of the quiet cousins.

Olivia flips through the pages, hesitates, then glances up at me, her expression suddenly concerned. “Um, we’ve had a last-minute change to the roommate assignments.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I’m not picky.” As long as they don’t snore or stay up all night.

“I just found out about this yesterday.” Olivia bites her lip and frowns. “And he was supposed to tell you himself.”

My stomach knots. “Who…tell me what ?”

Before she can answer, a familiar voice cuts in behind me, “Hi, sweetie.”

When I turn around, Dad is standing in the doorway in a golf shirt and khaki shorts. He actually looks put together for the first time in months, probably since Mom died.

“Hi, Dad. I’ve missed you,” I say, giving him a hug. It’s not until I step back that I notice someone is standing behind him.

“I wanted to introduce you to someone,” he says. “Lauren, this is Patty.”

Patty steps forward to shake my hand. Her bobbed blonde hair curls around her pleasant face and tentative smile. She tucks a curl behind her ear with a perfectly manicured pink nail.

“Oh, hi,” I say, confused about who this woman is and what she’s doing with my father .

“I’ve told Patty so much about you and Olivia,” Dad says, as if this is a sufficient explanation.

“It’s so great to meet you both,” Patty chirps.

She steps next to my father and their arms brush. Not in an accidental way, but like they’re a little more than friends. Then my dad puts his hand on Patty’s back and begins rubbing circles on it.

I stare at them, speechless, my eyes ping-ponging between the two of them before the realization hits me. Is this…Dad’s new girlfriend?

“Oh,” is all I can manage as I try to process this new information.

My father has a girlfriend.

Dad clears his throat. “And I hope you don’t mind, but since we’re a bit tight on rooms this year, I suggested Patty could share with you. It’s just for the week, and there’s a double bed?—”

I’d be sharing a bed with my dad’s new girlfriend whom I’ve known for approximately thirty seconds?

“Hope that’s okay,” Patty adds, smiling like we’re about to embark on a girls’ sleepover. “I do wear a CPAP mask for my sleep apnea, but the machine’s not too loud once you get used to it. And I’m an early riser, just like your dad says you are!”

Like my dad says I am? How much has he been talking about me to this woman I’ve never even met?

Even if I could get past sharing a bed with a complete stranger, I’m a notoriously light sleeper.

Mom used to joke that I could hear her breathe from three rooms away.

A CPAP machine would keep me up all week.

I force a smile, trying to hide my shock. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Of all people, he should know that this reunion was already going to be hard enough for us. I braced myself for a week of bittersweet memories and dodging my ex-boyfriend. But this? Being blindsided by a girlfriend I didn’t even know existed?

Dad looks over at Patty with a happiness in his look I haven’t seen in ages. “Patty and I met at the gym. I wanted her to meet the family. ”

“How long have you been dating?” I ask, trying to keep my curiosity under control.

He looks at Patty as if he can’t remember. “I don’t know—two weeks officially?” Patty nods in agreement.

I shake my head slowly in disbelief. “Two weeks? And she’s meeting the family?” The same family that’s gathering to honor Mom’s memory for the first time since we lost her.

She doesn’t look anything like my mom. In fact, she looks younger than Mom.

Not young-young , but definitely someone who spends a lot of time with a decent esthetician and a personal trainer.

Her blonde hair is surprisingly natural looking, and she wears just enough makeup to highlight her high cheekbones and blue eyes.

Under different circumstances, I might even like her.

But right now, all I can see is someone taking up the space where Mom should be.

This whole situation makes me feel conflicted. Dad’s been walking through life like a ghost for ten months. Of course, he’d be drawn to someone vibrant and warm who makes him feel young again.

But couldn’t he have warned me first?

“I think I need some air—excuse me.” I wheel around before the tears building behind my lids can spill over.

I barely register Olivia calling after me as I speed-walk my rolling bag through the house and escape to the back patio where I can stare at the woods and pull myself together. I promised Mom I would come to the reunion, and now I won’t even last a day. Some daughter I am.

I hear the door open behind me. “Hey, Lauren,” Dad says. “Mind if I join you?”

I turn around to make sure Patty isn’t with him. “Sure,” I say quietly, before staring at the woods again.

He sinks into the patio chair next to me and, for a moment, we sit in silence.

“I should’ve told you about Patty before now,” he says quietly, not asking if that’s why I’m upset. He already knows .

I exhale. “Then why didn’t you? It’s not Olivia’s job to update me on your personal life,” I say, trying to keep my tone gentle despite the hurt. “That should have come from you.”

“I know,” he says quietly. “I just thought you might not be open to the idea of me dating yet, since it hasn’t even been a year.”

I twist Mom’s ring around my finger—a deep goldenrod topaz, her favorite ring after her wedding set. “I just wish I’d had some warning.”

“Can you at least try to get to know her?” he asks. “Patty’s been the first thing to make me happy in a very long time.”

The guilt twists inside me. I want Dad to be happy. But does it have to be so soon? With someone so different from Mom?

The door opens behind us. “Patty,” he says, so clearly delighted by her that it hurts. “Are you ready to find your room?”

Patty nods, and Dad squeezes my shoulder before going. “Don’t worry, I’ll still have time for you.”

“Sure,” I muster, even though I already know. He’s already disappearing into his new life, and I haven’t even figured out how to live in this one without Mom.

I watch them go, before finding Olivia at the registration table again. “Why didn’t you tell me Dad had a girlfriend?”

For a second, she looks genuinely guilty. “I wanted to, Lauren. I really did. But you were already on the fence about coming because of Bart. If I told you about Patty…”

“So you thought blindsiding me was better?” My voice rises despite my attempt to keep it steady.

“No, of course not.” Olivia sets down her clipboard.

“But I was caught between Dad asking me not to say anything because he wanted to tell you himself, and knowing you’d need time to process it.

” She sighs. “He kept saying he’d call you, and then he didn’t.

And only yesterday did I find out he was bringing her. ”

I cross my arms. “And you couldn’t have given me a heads-up anyway? A simple text: ‘Hey, Dad’s bringing someone.’”

“Lauren, you’re not the only one struggling with this.” She runs a hand through her hair. “But it’s been ten months, and Dad has been—well, you’ve seen him. He’s been a shell of himself.”

“So the solution is some random woman from the gym? It hasn’t even been a year, Liv.”

“I’m not saying it’s ideal timing, but we can’t expect him to hold a candle for Mom forever.”

“Maybe I do. Because what Mom and Dad had was special. He sat by her hospital bed for months, never complaining or leaving her side.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “That kind of love isn’t something you just find again at the gym.”

Olivia looks at me with understanding. “I know. But that doesn’t mean Dad has to spend the rest of his life alone.”

“It’s been ten months, Liv. Ten . He couldn’t wait until the next reunion to bring her?”

“I don’t think it’s about waiting or not waiting,” she says carefully. “I think it’s about him trying to figure out how to live without Mom. And for some reason, Patty makes that easier for him.”

I shake my head. “That woman looks nothing like Mom.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what he needs—someone completely different.”

“What about me? How am I supposed to share a room with a complete stranger?”

“I’d put you somewhere else, but all the rooms are full, Lauren.” She takes a breath. “At least you won’t be facing this alone. You’ve got Tate.”

I look away, unable to meet her eyes.

“Lauren?” she says. “You are bringing Tate, right? Like we talked about?”

“Liv, don’t be mad,” I say, putting my hands up in defense. “I told him not to come.”

“Are you serious?” Olivia begins to get louder. “You need him here this week! Especially now.”

“I don’t need anyone,” I say. “I’ll manage just fine on my own. Like I always do.”

Olivia opens her mouth to respond, but her gaze suddenly fixes on something over my shoulder as a breeze rolls through the front door.

“Well, well, well,” a voice that makes my skin crawl rumbles behind me.

I spin around, ready to face the man I haven’t seen since he broke up with me.

Bart smirks as he laces his fingers through Abby’s, looking way too pleased with himself.

He fills the room with his six-four frame and his blond hair is slicked back with enough gel to survive a hurricane.

Abby glances at me nervously. She’s the cousin who’s closest to my age, and we’ve always gotten along, but seeing her with Bart makes everything awkward now.

“If it isn’t little Lauren,” he says with a lazy tilt of his head.

Little. Of course. He knows I hate that nickname.

“Bart,” I say with a smile so frosty it could freeze the pond outside. I snatch up my bag and turn to my sister, handing her back the key to my room. “Sorry, I need to go.”

Olivia’s face falls. “Wait, go where?”

“Don’t tell me you’re bailing on the Family Olympics,” Bart says. “Afraid of a little competition?”

I pause with my back to him. “No, Bart. I just don’t need to win anymore to feel good about myself.”

He lets out a tiny laugh. “Guess people change.”

I don’t respond. I just keep walking—until his next words land like a brick to the chest. “Especially now that your dad’s got a new woman.”

I stop cold and turn slowly to my sister. “What is he talking about?”

Olivia winces, her voice low. “Lauren…”

I scan her face, then Abby’s, and notice the way no one’s meeting my eyes.

“You all knew,” I say quietly, the words catching in my throat. “Everyone knew before me. ”

“Granny said you’d take it the hardest,” Olivia offers, like that makes it better.

It doesn’t. I take a step back, the memories pressing in on all sides. I grasp my suitcase handle like a lifeline, backing away from the group, from the house, from all of it.

Then I turn and walk out the door, the ache blooming so big it drowns out everything else.

Because there’s only one thing worse than finding out your dad has moved on.

It’s realizing everyone else already has.