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Made something of herself in New York. She was a big-town girl in a small fishbowl and she had every right to stick up her nose at the place she left behind and turn tail.
    On the other hand, she was lonely.
    Cami’s drink arrived and she leaned forward to sip through her straw. Her dress strap slipped down her arm as she did, baring her shoulder. No one noticed.
    “Cami?” Well. Almost no one. She noticed his eyes first—soft, soulful brown—mirrored with short blond hair and light, manicured facial hair. Cut, cleaned, not military extreme but groomed like a show dog. And stud he was—lean, limber, like glass. A single freckle at the corner of his right eye.
    She was drawing a blank on his name. Completely. “Um…,” she started, deer in headlights.
    “Oh, wow. You don’t remember me. This is embarrassing. For you, I mean, I’m really enjoying watching your brain struggle.” God, his smile was charming.
    “I know you,” she said.
    He just smiled and wrapped his lips around his beer.
    “We…went to school together.”
    “Cheap guess,” he said.
    “You’re…Michael. David. John.”
    “Now you’re just guessing apostles. Alright, let me give you a hint.” He put his drink on the bar (his arm brushed hers) and then cupped his hands over his mouth.
    And cawed. Loudly. Like a rooster. The bar slipped momentarily into a distracted silence, only punctuated by a loud screech from Cami, right before she threw her arms around him.
    “Oh my God…Jayce!” She squeezed him, tightly, and felt him squeeze back.
    “Hey, Cam,” he murmured as he held her. “Long time.”
    “You’re not kidding,” she said when she finally pulled back but kept her hands on his arms, needing to feel him, to make sure it was really him. “It’s been…what…?”
    “Seven years,” he said without missing a beat. His hand, too, lingered on her side. “You look…”
    “Fat?” she piped up. She was feeling it, suddenly. She’d been a skinny little thing (too skinny, if she was being honest with herself) all through middle school and now…
    He let out a laugh, a breathy sound. She decided she liked that noise. “I was going to say good .”
    She tried to swallow down the heat that crawled up her neck and bloomed in her cheeks. “And what about you?” she said, motioning to him. The last time they saw each other, he’d been a lanky, awkward teenager with a spotted face and a big nose. Her favorite merry little misfit, even when she’d graduated through the social ranks and far surpassed him. But they’d grown up together, on and off, for years. Her mother’s house was deep in the woods and he’d lived with his dad in a trailer park not too far off. No trace of the vagabond teenager now, who would run through the thick of the trees with her, cawing, shouting, playing, until they were both thoroughly caked in mud.
    “What about me?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
    “You grew into your snout,” she said, giving his nose a playful yank.
    “I think I’ve still got some growing room,” he said. His smile faded, though, and he added, “I heard about your mom. I’m so sorry.”
    The M word was like a bucket of icewater dumped on her head. For just a second, she’d been able to forget what she was doing here. It’d almost been nice to be back in Oregon. She felt her walls go up again and she stepped back, clinging to the stem of her margarita. “Yeah. Thanks.”
    “She was like a mother to me too, you know,” Jayce said somberly.
    More of a mother to you, Cami thought. At least she didn’t throw you in a psych ward to get rid of you.
    “When I heard over the radio about what happened—”
    “Over the what?”
    “Oh, yeah, I didn’t tell you.” Jayce’s expression brightened again, that sly, cocky smile falling over his lips, and the mood brightened with it. He propped himself up on the bar next to her. “I’m a man of the law now.”
    “You’re shitting me,” she said, smile wide as she leaned in as