Back to the girl who was scared what everyone said about me was true. I was a freak. Too weird to be wanted. And that my dreams of Sam Harris falling in love with me would never come true.

“More coffee?” The waitress comes back to the table to refill everyone’s mugs.

“Thanks," I tell her, though I’ve only taken a few sips of coffee. I wait until she walks away and the rest of the Harris family starts talking against to turn to Sam. “Are you okay?” I ask quietly, doing my best to ignore the rising feeling inside of me that tells me this is too good to be true.

I close my eyes in a long blink, telling the voice in the back of my mind to shut the fuck up. Good things happen to good people sometimes. I’m not exactly normal, but I don’t want to be. It sounds so boring, and obviously, I’ve been able to put my weirdness to good use. A lot of other people are weird too. In fact, I think we all are and it’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to let that weirdness show.

“Yeah,” he says right back. “Why wouldn’t I be?” His hand lands on my thigh and a rush goes through me.

“I don’t know.” I quickly shake my head back and forth. “You seem stressed again, like you did last night.”

“Oh,” he says, almost seeming surprised, like I called him out. “I just uh…uh…I had a long day at work yesterday.”

“I can imagine.”

He smiles and leans in, kissing me in front of his family and everyone in the restaurant. It shouldn’t turn me on this much, should it? Because, damn, it does, and I wish we could sneak into the bathroom for a quickie right now. “Everything is fine. Let’s enjoy the weekend before we have to go back to reality.”

Smiling back, I nod. “Sounds good to me.”

“What are your plans the rest of the day?” Mason asks. “Lennon is coming over and she said she’s bringing a friend.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Mom badgered her into bringing a single friend over for this loser.” He uses his thumb to point to Jacob. “I told her unless her friend has four legs and fur, he won’t be interested.”

“Fuck you,” Jacob grumbles.

“Language,” Mr. Harris warns. “This is a family establishment.”

“It is,” Mrs. Harris goes on, but her blue eyes sparkle. All the Harris boys inherited their mother’s blue eyes. Sam’s have a dark navy rim around them, Jacob has flecks of gold in his pupils, and Mason’s eyes are more green than blue, like Rory’s. I know this because it was a big topic of conversation when we were teenagers. “But I heard Betty Rosenfield had an affair with the cook.”

“Hopefully not here.” Mason makes a face. “On the table. Or the counters in the back. Both. I only hope they wiped everything down after Betty’s bare ass was all over the tables.”

“You always take things too far,” Mr. Harris says, trying not to laugh. “And let’s not spread rumors.” His eyes dart to the side, no doubt looking at Betty, the manager of Silver Cafe. “But I did see her at the farmer’s market last weekend with a much-younger man who was definitely not her husband, Ralph.”

“I leave for a few weeks and miss all the drama,” Mason says sarcastically.

“I do kind of miss it,” I tell him and then look at Sam. “We were just talking about how we missed small-town life.”

“Are you going to move back?” Mrs. Harris rushes out. “You could, couldn’t you? You don’t have to live in LA to write.”

“Mom,” Sam presses. “You already drilled her about this the last time she was here.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry, honey. Just the thought of having you close by makes me happy, and I know your father would love it too. Speaking of, invite him over tonight!”

“He’s out of town,” I say. “I think me coming to Silver Ridge unannounced jinxes it. His girlfriend’s sister just got a divorce and is having a really rough time, so they went to see her, and apparently talk her off the ledge of selling everything she owns to buy a yacht and living at sea.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Mr. Harris says wistfully, and Mrs. Harris swats his arm.

“Are you working today?” Sam asks Jacob.

“I’m always working,” he replies. “I don’t have any appointments today. I recently hired another vet to help with our client load.”

“Is she hot?” Mason asks and Jacob rolls his eyes.

“I suppose,” Jacob says. “But she has also been happily married to her wife for a while now and they just adopted another baby. And don't even go there,” he adds before Mason can make some sort of crude comment.

Until a few weeks ago, it had been years since I’d spoken to any of the Harris boys. We all grew up together, and Mason and Jacob felt like they were my brothers more times than not. And I know Mason well enough to know he uses humor to deflect any sort of unwelcome feeling. There are definitely more unhealthy ways of dealing with your feelings, but for all Mason did for us, I want him to be happy as well.

“So no,” Jacob says, going back to Sam’s original question. “Unless there’s an emergency, I’m not working today. You guys want to come over or something?”

“To the house,” Mrs. Harris asks. “Call me selfish, but the times I get all three of my boys in town at the same time are few and far between. I won’t bug you, I promise. I have a last-minute bridesmaid dress alterations to finish up for Lennon. She’s coming over later to try it on. I’m sure she’d love to stay and catch up!”

I have to think for a moment to remember that Lennon is Sam’s cousin. She’s a year or so older than Rory, I think. We were friendly since we saw each other at Harris family functions, but we never hung out or anything. I liked her, though. She has a bubbly personality and was way more outgoing than I ever understood anyone could be.

“I’ll keep her out of your hair,” Mr. Harris says with a wink. “We did promise to take Nana Benson out to dinner.”

“How is she doing?” I ask.

“Still as feisty as ever,” Mrs. Harris answers. “Though her memory is fading more and more each day.”

Our food comes, and my mouth waters at the sight of my bacon. I catch Lauren staring at us halfway through breakfast, but honestly, she doesn’t bother me anymore. Sam and I are happy…right?

The rain is coming down harder by the time we leave, bringing a chill to the air. I’m still stuffy with a slight sore throat.

“I’ll go get the car,” Sam tells me when we get outside. I wrap my arms around myself. I’m wearing a chunky off-the-shoulder sweater, and my one bare shoulder makes me get chilled right away. I sniffle and cough, chest hurting a bit.

“We have an umbrella,” I tell him. “I can walk.”

“Stay here.” Sam gives me a quick kiss and takes off, jogging through the rain. I stand to the side under the black-and-white striped awning. It’s faded from the sun, with mold stains along the corners. I’m fairly certain it’s the same exact awning that was here twenty years ago. It just adds to the charm of this place now.

We follow behind his family on the way to his parents’ farmhouse.