J E N N A x R E Y N O L D S
Jenna had spent most of the morning staring at the ceiling in Jeremiahās spare room, tracing the paint swirls with her eyes. Maybe she could make a fabric print from them. More likely, she was trying not to think about seeing everyone again after seven years away. And she definitely wasnāt thinking about seeing Casey again. The thought didnāt cause her chest to tighten. No, that was just her body telling her to sit up. She hadnāt wanted James to come because that would inevitably mean he would run into the Brady Bunch of relatives in town. Now she was starting to wonder if that had been such a good idea. If anything, he would have been a buffer against whatever was about to go down. Jenna sat up and dragged her hands down her face. This was ridiculous. She was a self-reliant, self-dependent boss running her own fashion business. She didnāt need a man to hide behind. Or anyone for that matter. So she dragged herself to the shower and started getting ready for the day.
She stepped in the shower and went over the list of things she had left to be done at JR. The Fall/Winter line needed finalising, there was so much left to be done on that. They needed to book the shows, the models, studios. And it was all in Christineās hands until she got sent the final cuts. Maybe Christine had a point about her working too much. She was here for her friend, work could wait. She hadnāt seen Nate for years beyond his picture in the gossip columns, sheād been reading Ben and Liaās work, sheād followed Jeremiahās career, Di was an anomaly though. She hadnāt heard anything from Liaās twin for a while now. Nas she saw more often than the others. They had always been friends and it would be good to see him again. And Casey had disappeared to England. That must have been nice.
Jenna pulled her pants on and checked her hair in the mirror. She looked good. āJer? You ready to go?ā she called as she headed down the stairs, sliding her shoes on as she went.
N A T H A N I E L x P R I C E
Nate slid into his car and sank back into the seat. Had it always been this warm in Bluffton? It had been that long since heād even thought about the place, never mind the weather. He cruised through the streets he had grown up in, back when it seemed like this small town was all the world had to offer him. His life couldnāt be more different now. This all seemed very quaint by comparison. No doubt the word had spread around town that he was back already. Even insignificant news travelled fast in a small town. Heād already had a call from his manager about the story that was going to run about him going back home. The devil worked hard, but his PR team worked harder. At least that's how it felt sometimes. Every move he made was marketed and spun a certain way to āprotect the brandā. Once upon a time, Nate might have pushed back against it, but his life was public interest now. People would talk whatever he did. There was nothing he could do.
Nate turned down the street that Benās parents lived on. A party to celebrate being out of hospital...It was a new one by Nate, and probably something to pass on to his LA friends the next time he saw them. Theyād probably throw a party to celebrate him being back in LA. Or just have a party because they could. He parked up outside the house he knew all too well. The place was practically a palace compared to some of the places heād lived over the years. The LA property market was not kind to the up and comers. He didnāt bother knocking. Heād never knocked in the past, mostly because heād always been with Lia, so why start now? He let himself in and navigated his way through the crowd. He was used to ignoring the looks he got from people, but he still enjoyed knowing that they were looking.
Erin was behind the bar and Nate could almost feel the relief course through him. Someone who knew how to make a good drink. Ben and Casey were standing at the bar. Clearly he wasnāt the only one who hadnāt heard from Casey in a while if their reunion was anything to go by. He looked around the room. So far it was just the three of them from the original group. Nate made his way to the bar. āWell, this all looks very civilised,ā he said by way of hello. What did you say to two friends you hadnāt seen in years when one of them had just been released from hospital? It wasnāt exactly something that came up everyday.