“Right. He’s a sweet guy. When I lived in Harper Springs, he was around a lot, helping Emma and the rest of us build her cabin. He was the kind of person who took care of people, you know? Whenever one of us needed something—a hand with putting together some furniture, or a ride to pick up lunch for the crew, anything really—Noah was there. We all knew he was working through his own grief, but he never laid it on the rest of us. He was just calm and kind . . . and there.”
“Wow.” Brooke rested her chin in one hand. “And you hung out with him the other day?”
“Hung out is an iffy term. He was in a lot of pain—his doctor got hung up in that crazy accident that shut down the highway. So I just talked and tried to keep his mind off everything.”
“That was pretty great of you,” Brooke remarked. “Look at you, Alison. Shopping for a wedding, offering succor to poor injured yet still smokin’ hot football players . . . I suggested that you begin to widen your social circle, but damn, girl. You’re all kinds of go-get’em.”
“Yeah.” I gnawed the side of my lip. “I’m a little nervous about the wedding. There’ll be people I can’t wait to see, yes, but there will also be a lot of people I don’t know. I’ve been playing hermit for so long, I’m afraid I’m out of practice with meeting new people.”
“No, I don’t believe that.” She smiled, her gaze holding mine. “You’re going to be fine. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe you’re going to be more than fine—you’re going to rock this.”
I let out a long breath. “Do you really think so?”
“What are you talking about, girl? With that new dress, and all of the work you’ve put into your healing and growth—you’ve got this.” Brooke nodded slowly. “Yeah, no doubt about it. You’ve got this.”
