Page 89 of Where We Stay

Blair’s lips twitch. “Lightweight.”

“I had five beers.”

“Exactly.”

I shake my head as she takes a smug sip of her wine.

Aspen returns with Beachy tucked beneath her arm and drags a chair toward the counter so she can supervise dinner.

“Daddy makes really good spaghetti,” she tells Blair.

“I’m relieved to hear it.”

“Don’t get too excited,” I warn her. “She also thinks ketchup belongs on scrambled eggs.”

“It does,” Aspen argues.

Blair presses a hand to her chest. “I’m sorry, Aspen, but I have to side with your dad on that one.”

Aspen gasps like Blair has personally betrayed her.

Dinner comes together easily, and soon the three of us are sitting around the table while Aspen tells Blair everything she apparently failed to mention during the festival.

Somewhere between stories about school and a detailed explanation of Beachy’s favorite foods, Blair looks around the room again.

“Have you always lived in Hartwell?” she asks me.

“Born and raised.”

“You never wanted to leave?”

I think about it for a second. “Not really. Everything I’ve ever needed is here.”

Blair lowers her eyes to her wine. “Must be nice.”

“What?”

“Knowing where home is.”

There’s something in the way she says it that makes me want to ask what she means, but Aspen chooses that exact moment to knock a noodle onto the floor and announce that it looks like a worm.

The moment passes.

After dinner, we stay at the table talking until our plates are empty and Aspen is halfway through explaining why Beachy needs a Halloween costume.

“Don’t move,” I tell Blair.

She raises a brow. “That sounds threatening.”

“Just sit there.”

I head into the pantry and retrieve the cupcake box. Blair’s expression changes the second I place it in front of her.

“Dean…”

“It’s your birthday.”

She stares at the cupcake like it might disappear if she looks away. “You went back for this?”