CHAPTER ONE

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Sunset, Louisiana

The coffeehouse memories played out in my mind as I sat at the table. We met during our time in Sunset High School, somewhere in the backwoods of Louisiana. I don't want to sound cliché and say that Patrick was the high school jock, voted most handsome, but he was. And even more cliché, I was the one who usually went unnoticed. It was here, in this coffeehouse, at the corner of Main and Smith, where we met for the first time. However typical our first encounter was, and how we became friends, it was how we met. I had to be honest, though, when we first started talking, I didn't have a bad first impression of him. Even when we used to walk the halls and he would pass by me with his group of friends and me with mine.

I remembered Ava, his first girlfriend. They dated from sophomore year and well into his college days. She was the one who broke his heart and trampled on it. I was there, with the late night phone calls, just listening to him talk about how he lost the love of his life. It carried on so late into the night, that we both ended up falling asleep and waking up to see the phone conversation had gone on for some time. Dad wasn't happy about the phone bill, I could tell you that for sure.

Now, after what felt like decades and decades of being his friend, we were at the same place, CJ's Cafe. We were once again, drinking the same coffee like we always did during our study sessions. It was funny to see how the place hadn't changed, even after eight years. Yet it felt like, for some reason, that I was on the outside looking in. I couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place.

I looked at Patrick, drinking my coffee. It was the blend I always got every time we needed to cram for history class. Crazy Cajun blend was the name of it. Known for having strong chicory accents, while having the subtle flavors of spice. It was a good blend and boy, did it bring back some memories as strong as the blend.

I brought my mind back to the present moment and stared at the person sitting in front of me. I was trying to find the right words to say. Even though we still maintained a Facebook friendship and talked often, most of it was behind a screen, or on the phone. It wasn't in person. I found this to be harder than I was anticipating.

"It must be strange after being gone for eight years," he said. "How does it feel being back?"

"It's weird. Even Ashley's gone. I could've sworn she was going to end up running the place." I turned to look at the new barista, who was as blonde as Ashley, but one glance could tell that she was naturally a brunette.

"Ashley got pregnant," Patrick said. "She has two kids now."

"Two?" I looked at him with wide eyes. "Not one, but two? Are they twins?"

He shook his head. "No, they're about 18 months apart. You've missed out on a lot, Marley."

"I can tell," I said, looking at the new barista. "Is the new one any good?"

"Well," he said, smiling. "She's my girlfriend... I was hoping that she'd come over so that I can introduce you to her. She's a lot nicer than Ava. I really think you'd like her. She's been here for about a year."

I cleared my throat. Awkward. At least he seemed happier now. There was a different light in his eyes than before. I supposed it was a good thing, that he seemed happy. Ava wasn't good for him at all.

"Well, that's great! How long have you two been together?"

"Couple of months." He took a sip of his coffee. "Right after the hurricane. I was helping her out. Her Pop is my neighbor and she was staying in from college just to help him out. She graduated in May."

I didn't know what to say. The girl looked younger than Patrick, but I wasn't sure how many years younger. Maybe she was just one of those youthful-looking girls. She was tall, thin, and had blonde hair like Ashley. However, she seemed to be a bit more focused. It was funny ot see her flitting around from place to place. The coffeehouse was rather busy, though, and she was the only one manning the store. So that meant going in and out of the back room and into the store consistently, all the while answering orders from the drive-thru. It was not a job that I would have liked to have had. Not at all.

"How old is she?" I asked, facing him.

"She's twenty-nine."

Only three years younger. Seriously? She looked eighteen. I began to wonder if she was lying about her age.

"I know, I know." Patrick laughed, his eyes lighting up. "She looks younger."

I shifted in my seat. "Yeah, she does."

"She can prove it with her ID. I promise. I guess some people are just blessed with youthful looks."

I looked at the girlfriend he still hadn't told me the name of. She was so busy with her coffee and answering the drive-thru headphones, that it seemed like she wasn't looking at Patrick sitting near the cash register. Was she going to get in trouble for chatting with us?

After a few minutes of taking groups of coffee to the window, she walked out and waved to Patrick. It seemed like she didn't notice me at all.

"Hey, Patrick," she said, walking up to him and draping herself over him.

"Hey, Baby." He kissed her cheek.

I looked away, keeping my eyes on my coffee cup. I didn't know that this coffee meeting would entail me meeting a new girlfriend of his.

"Hello," I said. "My name's Marley."

"Marley Carlisle?" she asked, looking at me with wide eyes. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. I've heard so much about you. It's so nice to meet you!" Her eyes lit up. She sat down across the table from me, sitting next to Patrick.

I was surprised that she would have reacted in such a way to me introducing myself. She was the opposite of Ava... When I met Ava, the first thing she said to me was: 'Oh, so you're the best friend? Goodness, I thought Patrick could do better than that...'

Yes, it wasn't exactly the best first impression, and all the impressions after that were awful. I was glad that Patrick got over her. Maybe I could get to know this new girl of his.

"Yeah, I'm that Marley. The only Marley Carlisle in Sunset," I said with a smile.

"Well, I'm Victoria, but you can just call me Tori. Everyone does."

"So, how long have you been working here, Tori?" I asked, sort of already knowing the answer from Patrick.

"A year," she said. "Ashley taught me the ropes before her baby was born. Have you seen it? It's so cute!"

"No." I shook my head. "I've been here for only a few weeks. I came back from New York."

"Oh that's right. I heard that you had some kind of job up there?"

"Yeah, but I quit. Decided it wasn't the best job for me. Patrick probably told you what I did."

"You worked for some fashion designers?"

Why does everyone here think that jobs in New York are about fashion?

I didn't really like to talk about my job but it was something that I was cornered into by Tori, so I had to say something.

"No, I didn't work for fashion designers. I worked for a literary agency. I'm a literary agent."

"Oh!" she said, looking at Patrick. "That's right. So is that why you're meeting here today? To go over Patrick's book?"

"Don't get started on that Tori." He said, getting red in the face. "You know Marley wouldn't care about reading my stuff."

I didn't really know that Patrick was even writing a book. How far gone was I from the community here, that I didn't even know this? Or was Patrick just being shy about it? I hoped it was the latter, because as much as I talked to him in the span of time I was gone, it was enough to still maintain a solid friendship with him.

"I didn't know you were writing a book," I said.

He kept his eyes on the table. "I didn't want to tell anyone..."

"I didn't even know you really wanted to be a writer, Patrick," I said.

Tori smiled. "Of course he wants to be a writer. He's really good, you know. He wants you to read his work."

At this point, I could tell that Patrick was getting pretty uncomfortable. He was doing the hand-shaking thing again. He usually did that when he was in a tense situation. Tori probably knew well... I didn't know her, but already, I was guessing that she was the kind of person to divulge in information that probably could have been kept quiet. In other words, she seemed like she was a bit of a blabbermouth. Yeah, Tori seemed nice, but there was something a little bit off about her and her attitude.

"Tori, please. Don't do this right now," Patrick said, frowning. "Now's not the right time, Honey."

"You know I'm just trying to liven up the conversation. It felt like a there was a lull and honestly I was getting kind of bored so I thought you would want to talk about it with her like we discussed."

Awkward. I could tell Patrick wasn't liking this all too much. I knew him well enough to know that he wasn't the kind of guy that liked other people telling him details of his private life, even if they weren't all that embarrassing. I knew he was going to tell me on his own terms, and I found myself wishing that Tori wouldn't have done what she did. I bit my lip and tried to think of something to say but after a moment or two, my phone vibrated against my thigh.

"I have to take this call. Talk when we get back?" I asked, looking at Patrick.

I opened up my purse and noticed it was an important call that I had to take. I excused myself and walked outside, noticing that it was about to rain. The clouds were looking darker and darker by the second.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Is this Marley Carlisle?"

"Yes, it is," I said.

"This is Paul Trevors. We received your application for the position of literary agent."

My heart thundered. This was the moment I had been waiting for for weeks. The reason why I even decided to return to Louisiana in the first place. It was for this job in New Orleans.

"I am sorry to say that the position has been filled."

"Oh..." I said, my heart sinking to the floor. My gut reaction was to throw the phone in the parking lot. "It has?" My throat was entirely too dry.

"Yes. Your credentials are superb, but there was someone else with better qualifications. I hope you have a nice day, Miss Carlisle. And I wish you luck in your endeavors."

Standing under the awning for several seconds, the rain started pouring down but I didn't even care. Was I still on the line? My phone was still against my ear. The words sorry, position, and filled rang in my head for several moments, not leaving for a second. I didn't even know what to think. My mind was in a jumble of words and emotions that I couldn't even define properly. What on earth was I going to do next? Was I stuck in Sunset?