The Summer Affair

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Alec,” I said, my voice strained.  I looked into his eyes and saw the pain, clear and simple.  He was sorry.  I always knew he was, but seeing it first hand was different.  There were bags under his eyes and he looked drained. 

“Anna,” he said quietly.  I glanced over his shoulder at Mitch, who was watching Alec with a cold and calculating expression.  I caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow, knowing he would understand that I wanted his to stay calm and over there.  I could handle Alec this time. 

“Well,” I said and looked over at a booth nearby, chewing on the inside of my bottom lip.  Alec wrapped me in a hug and I couldn’t help but hug him back.  I sighed and felt something inside me.  I didn’t know what it was, exactly, but I could tell it was something good.  I felt warm.  At peace.  At home. 

“I’m so sorry, Anna.  I am so, so sorry.”  I hugged him even tighter and closed my eyes.

“It’s okay.  I forgive you.” 

“Thank you Anna.  Thank you so much.  I missed my baby sister.”

“I missed my big brother, so we’re even.”  He pulled back and looked me in the eyes, smiling.  He already looked better than he did before. 

“I know you don’t want to right now, but anytime you want to come home, your room is still available.  I couldn’t find anyone to rent it out to,” he said with a sparkle in his eye.

“Oh, yeah, I thought I saw an ad in the paper,” I teased, pushing on his shoulder.  He smiled and gave me a final hug. 

“You know that I couldn’t do that.  Now go run along.  I’m sure Mitch is waiting, and I can feel his eyes on my back,” he said with his lips curled slightly upwards.

“Try not to kill him, Alec.  Then I would really be pissed off,” I said with a grin and walked away.  Mitch smiled as I walked over to his side.  I smiled right back and we were off to ride more rides and eat more food.  By the end of the night I’d be ten pounds heavier.

We found Peter and the gang by the Ring of Fire, and Mitch decided it was a fantastic idea to go it right after I had just eaten another funnel cake.  I declined and said I would watch and take pictures with his camera.  He offered to stay behind with me but the guys dragged him into line.  I smiled and waved as they got on and waited for the ride to start, waiting in a poorly lit area on the other side of the ride, away from all the people.

“So when are you moving back in with your brother?” Jordan asked from behind me.  I grimaced and turned around. 

“Since when was it your business?”

“Since you moved in with my ex-best friend.”

“I thought only girls used the term ‘ex-best friend’.”

“That would be incorrect.”

“I see it is.”  We stood there for a while, just glaring at each other.  He finally shuffled his feet and looked away.