Page 166 of The Run Back Home

When it's time for us to leave, I order another three cinnamon rolls for Dylan, Jace, and Vienna, and we both stand. Bridget gives me a hug then pops her hands onto my shoulders.

"Whatever you decide," she starts. My pulse quickens. "Just know we're all behind you."

The ache eases slightly. "Thanks B."

She slings her jacket over her shoulders. "We always were, by the way."

It takes me a while for my brain to catch up—maybe because of the caffeine or the sugar rush. Or because it's slightly hard to wrap my head around.

"It might have felt like your hand was forced," she continues. "But Max, Sam and I—even Dad and Mabel—we would have had your back if you decided to leave all those years ago."

"You think?"

She shrugs. "Sure. I mean, of course we wanted you close—you're our baby sister. But we would have loved you regardless of what you decided—as long as you were happy." I smile as she drops her arms. "And Jace will too."

The perfect cocktail of feelings rushes through me—nerves, regret, guilt, hope. Whatever kind of happiness you get when someone tells you that the person you thought you lost might love you again.

I go to speak—or thank her for the permission I didn't know I needed—but Bridget glances down at her watch and sighs.

"I gotta run," she says. "My meter ran out three minutes ago. Damn city parking."

I chuckle softly. "Yeah, that's one thing our small town does right."

"I am so telling Mabel you said that." Bridge purses her lips playfully, then darts for the door, waving over her shoulder as she steps onto the street.

I turn around to find my white cardboard box of cinnamon rolls waiting for me. Before I take them from the counter, I reach for the zipper on my jacket and tug on it. It snags on the same thread it always does, and before I can yank it fully up, there's a tap on my shoulder.

"Is this seat open?" a stranger asks from behind.

"Yeah," I say brightly—mostly because I finally won the zipper war I was in. "They both are actually…"

My words fade as my heart drops to my feet.

Because the person waiting for me when I turn around isn't a stranger at all.

Or at least she didn't use to be.

"Hi, Lenny."

It takes me too long to tell my mouth to smile, but eventually I manage. "Mrs. Holloway." Panic instantly follows. "I mean, um—"

"Ang is fine," she says, saving me.

I huff out a nervous breath, and an unexpected warmth washes over me.

At first, I can't place why seeing Jace's mom—who I'm still pretty convinced hates me—would make me feel so strangely relieved. But then I really look at her and realize it's because she looks exactly the same.

For the first time since I got here, being surrounded by strangers who don't know my name—let alone my life story—doesn't feel comforting. And seeing a familiar face in this foreign city—one that isn't one of the only three I've seen for weeks—brings a strange kind of peace.

I blink, pulling myself back to the conversation. "How are you?" I ask.

She nods. "I'm good. Still getting used to this hustle and bustle."

"Yeah," I laugh. "It's a lot different from Mage, huh?"

"It is." She smiles faintly. "But nothing feels more like home than having my family all together."

Remorse replaces the relief I felt just a moment ago, but I shove it down. "It's nice you moved to be closer to Jace."