“Darn tootin’ it is. You have to use a certain kind of peach, you see. From Guy, Arkansas. The sugar-to-cinnamon ratio is the key—”
Jade’s stomach curdled and she tuned out the woman as she described her recipe. She didn’t want to think about food. Or pie. Or sharing a bite with Sebastian. Or his searing, toe-curling, earthquaking kiss—
“Anyway, I ended up calling my daughter and apologizing for getting mad that she put my recipe in her church cookbook without my permission.”
She glanced at the woman, who was smiling at her.
“Life is too short to fuss over peach cobbler, or anything else. Now I have no regrets.”
“Rows twenty through thirty, please board.”
“That’s me, twenty-nine.” She got up from her seat. “Safe travels, young lady.”
“You too.”
Jade watched her go, managing to be happy for her. But not seeing family because of a recipe sounded ridiculous. There were far more serious reasons to be estranged.
She stilled. Regrets. She had plenty. An entire past full of them. Some more recent now, and one that overrode them all. Weariness washed over her at the thought of adding them to the weight of the rest. What else could she do, though? She couldn’t fix the past. The doors were all closed...
Except for one.
“Rows thirty through forty, ready to board.”
Jade looked at her boarding pass. Row forty, seatC. She glanced at the line of passengers waiting to get on the plane. She needed to join them. She needed to go home.
She got up and grabbed her suitcase. But instead of getting in line, she left the gate, digging into her crossbody bag for her Razr. With one hand she pulled it out and flipped open the cover, then punched in a number and put it to her ear, never breaking her stride.
“Jade?”
Relief washed through her. She wasn’t sure he was going to pick up. “Hi, Logan.”
***
On Tuesday morning Kalista made a decision—she couldn’t ignore Tyler for the summer, not until after she apologized and paid him for the funnel cake. That meant she had to ask Viv for the money, but she told her it was for coffee at the Clementine Diner and not to pay Tyler back. During her tell-all at lunch yesterday, she hadn’t mentioned the funnel cake and didn’t see the need to. Paying him back was the right thing to do, even though she never had to pay anyone back in her life before.
Another first was feeding the animals with Viv that morning. Viv hadn’t asked her until now, and Kalista guessed it was because of her new job. She yanked on the black rubber boots Viv had given her and trudged to the pig pen. Slopping the hogs, as Viv called it, was the most unglamorous thing she’d ever done. They smelled. They snorted. They rolled in the mud and smacked their snouts as they gobbled down their food.
They were kind of adorable too, in a messy, stinky way.
When Viv went to spread chicken feed by the coop, Bo came over to Kalista, who had dumped the last bucket of feed over the fence and into the trough. “You look like you’ve been doing this your whole life.”
She glanced at him and smirked. “It’s not exactly rocket science.”
“No, but it’s important.” He rested his forearms on the red metal gate and looked ahead. “I want to thank you, Kalista.”
Stunned, she said, “Thank me? Why?”
He turned to her. Bo wasn’t a looker, that was for sure. He was bald, his stomach protruded too far over his belt buckle, and he always wore overalls that were a little long in the legs. But he was a very, very nice man and treated Viv like a princess. “I’m glad youcame here. Clementine ain’t no LA, and we ain’t fancy here either. It’s got to be hard. I’m sure you’re missing your family and friends.”
Kalista barely nodded. She’d lost her best friend and boyfriend in the span of three days, although she could say good riddance to Abbie and good luck to Ryan, now that she wasn’t so hurt. Bettany hadn’t called and checked on her, not that Kalista expected or wanted her too. Neither had Daddy. Him ignoring her was expected. Out of sight, out of mind, apparently. “I guess,” she mumbled.
“I hope you’re able to make some friends here. You’ve sure made my Vivian happy too.”
Now she could genuinely smile. She looked past Bo and watched as Viv sprinkled crushed corn nibblets on the ground, the chickens pecking around her. She looked like one of those Disney princesses who could enchant animals. Her stepmother was definitely in her element.
“How’s work?” Bo asked. “Seb treating you well?”
Seb? Oh. Mr. Hudson. “I haven’t seen him much. I mostly work with Tyler.”
