“Wow, Tamron. Quinn didn’t understand that?” I asked.

Alison huffed. “He would if she’d have just told him that. But no. All she told him was that last part about it being ridiculous. So to be honest, I can’t blame him, and that pisses Tamron off even more.”

I smiled at Tamron. She looked up at me between her fingers, like hiding from a scene in a movie you don’t want to see but can’t keep from looking.

“Tamron, it’ll be all right. I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end, as long as you keep your heart open to Quinn. And you know Alison and I are always here for you.”

I walked around the counter to give her a hug, noticing the tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and hugged me back. I hoped she might be ready to talk to Quinn, but as we pulled apart, he walked through the kitchen to get a beer and didn’t even look at her.

He made a point to say hi to Alison and me though, and I could tell some real damage had been done. I felt the chasm between them as stark as if I were standing in one for real. Quinn grabbed two beers then made his way back into the living room.

Tamron leaned back against the counter with a sigh. “It’s probably too late to fix it now. I can’t tell him all of that anyway. He won’t understand. It’s just . . . God, I can’t lose him.”

“You’re going to lose him, if you don’t explain it to him, Tamron. You have to at least try,” I told her with Alison nodding in agreement.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. I knew she probably wasn’t ready to talk to Quinn, but she looked like she was getting there, and I hoped she would be soon.

We spent the afternoon talking about all we had missed while away from each other. I told the girls about my trip to Hawaii with Emmett. They listened intently as I told them about Alec’s memorial. I grabbed my phone and showed them pictures of Alec’s lantern. Neither one asked me what I had written on my panels. They knew it was something just between Alec and me. But they each squeezed my hands as I spoke about Emmett and I drawing strength from each other, as we set his lantern afloat in the ocean. I’m sure they were relieved we’d been able to finally say goodbye and get some closure.

Emmett walked into the kitchen and grabbed two more beers then went back outside. I wanted to join him so I could catch up with John, too.

“So, guess who’s here.” I said, smiling.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting. Who?” Tamron asked.

But Alison was already up and walking to the back doors. “It’s John!” she squealed.

“Here? Now? Really?” Tamron asked as she followed Alison outside.

Emmett and John were sitting on the brick wall surrounding the back yard. I walked up to Emmett and nestled between his legs, while the girls ambled up to John. He had enough time to jump down before they threw their arms around him and hugged him tight.

“Tamron, Alison . . .” he said, laughing. “It’s good to see you.”

They started into twenty questions—when did he get there, why didn’t he say he was coming? Did he have a girlfriend up there in Alaska, and if so, they wanted all the details about her, and they would need to make sure she knew the consequences of hurting him.

I smiled up at Emmett as he looked down at me with a glint in his eye.

“Those girls never change,” he said and we both chuckled.

“Hey Emmett,” Alison and Tamron said in unison, still standing with John’s arms around them.

“No, there’s no girlfriend,” he finally answered. “But there are girls,” he continued at their surprised expressions. “I do date, for fuck’s sake. I just haven’t found one that I want to have around on a regular basis. That’s all.”

Emmett cleared his throat. “There’re lots of fine, southern girls down here in Alabama and Georgia, you know.”

I motioned around at all of us. “Plus, we’re all here. If you’d just stay down here permanently.” I added.

“Never gonna happen, my friends,” John answered. “I love Alaska. I’ll keep coming down here for the heavy winter months, but Alaska is my home, and if I were to find a fine, southern girl, she would have to travel with me between here and Alaska.”

We all laughed as Riley and Quinn walked through the back door. Riley walked up to Alison, and Quinn fired up the grill. I could sense Tamron’s tension from across the yard. Man, I understood her hesitation, but I knew first hand it was better to be honest about your feelings, rather than keep it in, no matter what happened.

I went inside to grab a couple sodas. Tamron followed me in with a look of panic I’d never seen before. She shook her head when I started to ask what was wrong, and I realized she likely just needed a breather.

As the afternoon crept on, Quinn had slowly inched his way closer and closer to Tamron. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let things stay the way they were between them for long. Tamron was going to have to talk to him, and soon. Trouble was, she was nowhere near ready. I handed her the tray of hamburgers and hot dogs, and she grew more panicked than ever.

“Tamron, this is the best way to break the ice between you two. He has the grill ready. Just hand this to him and say ‘hi’ or ‘here ya go.’ You don’t have to engage in real conversation yet. He still has to cook. But you’ll at least have something other than silence to step you two closer to actually hashing out your problems. Remember, this all started because he wanted y’all to move in together. He loves you. It’ll all work out.”

She nodded and, in normal Tamron fashion, stood tall and walked out the back door, looking confident and ready. I smiled, hoping they’d be okay. Their relationship was one of the most rock-solid that I knew, and it made me feel very uneasy, for them to be in turmoil.

I gathered more drinks into a cooler and carried it outside. Emmett watched me with that same look he had upstairs in his old room. A chill ran through me as I thought of his arms wrapped around my body and his mouth kissing mine, softly at first, then turning hungry and greedy. With a shake of my head, I snapped myself from the sexy daydream. Man, just a look from him had me all hot and bothered. If it hadn’t been for the company we were in, I would have rushed that barbeque along, too.

Tamron stood up and said, “I’m going to get some more chips and salsa. The guys look ready for another round. Alison would you help me with the beer?”

Alison started to rise from Riley’s lap when Quinn stood up.

“I’ve got it, Alison,” he said.

Tamron’s panicked expression returned, but neither Alison nor I were able to help her at that point. And it needed to happen anyway, so we nodded at each other as Quinn followed Tamron inside. A few minutes later, I joined Alison.

“Maybe we should go get the chips and beer, because I doubt they’ll be out anytime soon.”

She nodded. “Good idea.”

When we walked inside, muffled voices sounded from Quinn’s bedroom. I grabbed the food while Alison snagged the drinks, and we walked back outside.

Riley looked up at us as we set the food and drinks down. “Well . . . are they talking?”

Alison tsked at him. “It’s not like we eavesdropped, Riley.” She looked around and smiled back at him. “But we did hear muffled voices.”

Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief, and it was then I realized just how much Tamron and Quinn’s situation had affected all of us.

After about an hour, Tamron and Quinn walked back outside, smiling, holding hands, and looking quite relieved. It gave me hope to see a strong relationship make it through a difficult and trying time.

Quinn sat down in a lounge chair and pulled Tamron onto his lap. When Riley handed him a beer he looked over at me and smiled sincerely and I nodded my head back at him.

It was late when everyone started to crash, we were exhausted, and a little buzzed, so we decided to stay one last night in Emmett’s room upstairs. I fell asleep in Emmett’s arms as his fingers played with my hair.