Page 8 of Yesterday I Cared
She turns to greet me when I open the door, her eyes bright as her smile grows. “Ronan!”
A laugh escapes me as she tackles me in a hug of pure energy. Just the way she always was. “Hey, Josie.”
She steps back to look up at me. “I can’t believe you’re here! When Bryce told me you’d accepted the job, I was surprised.”
“Hopefully it was a good surprise?” The question comes out awkwardly. I stuff my hands in the pockets of my sweats. This is Mia’s best friend—whatever resentment she harbors toward me could have been passed onto Josie.
“Only the best surprise!”
The tension in my shoulders relaxes. “Good. It’s good to see you.”
“You too. Now, Bryce and Mia are meeting about marketing for an upcoming meet or something—I don’t know. I tried to keep his calendar straight for him since I’m, you know, the administrator. That lasted less than a month and resulted in him sleeping on the couch for two nights. So now he leaves me a sticky note with the day’s plan on it.”
“So, what you’re secretly trying to tell me is that Bryce is still a huge control freak?”
Amusement glitters in her eyes, a sly smirk tugging up the corners of her lips. “IknewI was right to be excited about you joining the team!”
That obviously means there were people questioning it. Which I knew, because Bryce told me that Mia wasn’t sure about what hiring me means. I want to ask Josie, find out what she thinks really happened to make me retire. Did Bryce tell her the truth? I wouldn’t blame him if he did. I don’t want to be the reason one of them is keeping something from the other.
“I’m guessing Bryce gave you a tour?” I nod in confirmation at Josie’s question. “And I’m guessing it was all the important stuff you need to know in order to coach kids safely?”
My brow arches. “Seeing as that was what he hired me to do, yes. That’s exactly what the tour was.”
“Well, then, let me give youanothertour. This time, it’ll be more fun.” Without asking, she links her arm through mine and starts leading me out to the outdoor pool. “We’ll talk all about Bryce and Carter’s visions and dreams, because you know those superstitious assholes won’t tell anyone about them.”
With a laugh, I allow her to lead me away.
Josie is still chatting my ear off as we head back to the lobby. All conversation about the facility is done, though, and she’s moved on to sharing her wisdom about all the places they’ve visited since moving to Columbia. I’ve never even been to South Carolina, so most of this was new to me and I was taking her recommendations to heart. Sitting still or being alone all the time is not the best way for me to live my life.
When we round the corner and enter the main lobby again, it suddenly feels like the ground has opened up and I was free-falling.
Mia is standing at the desk, less than twenty feet from me, talking to another woman. I instantly suspect the other woman to be Carter’s girlfriend, Katrina. With long blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, she is stunning, though not necessarily the type of person I’d expect Carter to be with. Based on what I’ve been told, I know they’re happy together.
My entire focus, however, is on Mia Sheridan. She feels like a phantom that’s been haunting me for years, yet now she’s standing in front of me very much alive.
She’s different from what I remember. Her long dark brown hair is loose around her shoulders. She’s dressed casually, but professionally. Beneath the sleeves of her top, I can see several tattoos littered across her arms—not quite a sleeve, more like a random assortment of things she loves. All of them, I note, are black, and have either no other color or the bare minimum, which only makes them stick out more strikingly against her skin.
“Mia’s gotten a couple dozen more tattoos since you’ve seen her last,” Josie jokes. Her tone is low, probably to keep Mia from noticing us before I’m ready. “And please don’t ask me how many she has; I lost track after twenty.”
The surprised laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. I don’t know why that number is surprising, especially when I can see at least ten facing me. Unfortunately, the sound causes Mia and Katrina to both turn in surprise.
Time moves in slow motion as I clock every flicker of Mia’s eyes. First, there’s the faintest flash of happiness, but it’s quickly masked behind a blank stare. Light green eyes track over my whole body, but not in the way that makes me feel weak in the knees. She’s assessing me, looking for something. Too bad I don’t know what that is.
When her eyes finally glance up at me, I offer the smallest smile and the world’s most awkward wave. “Hey, Sheridan.”
Her gaze snaps into a glare, her arms tightening around her bag. “O’Brien.” She nods. “Nice of you to crawl out from beneath the rock you’ve been living under to join the land of the living.”
My brows furrow, and I notice both Bryce and Carter behind the desk for the first time. Both look like they’re holding their breaths. “I don’t—”
“Don’t.” Her hand goes up, stopping me. “I don’t have any interest in hearing your voice. We can be adults about this—you stay the hell away from me and I’ll stay the hell away from you.”
A stunned, awkward silence follows as Mia basically storms through the main entrance, never once looking back at us. I look around the room, but no one seems to know what to say. The air she left hanging in her place is tense with all the angry energy she put into it.
Almost eight years later, any questions I had remaining have evaporated: Whatever happened back in 2017 isn’t something that’s been healed with time. She’s still pissed at me.
Bryce is the first one to break. “Honestly, that went better than I thought it would. What? Don’t look at me like that, Ronan!”
I roll my eyes. “She hates me, Bryce.”
