“Alright, Tilly. Fine. Just . . . you’re home now. How long are you staying?”
“I don’t know.”
It’s not the answer she wants, but I can’t give her anything more. Promising to stay here for the rest of my life will only make it harder when I inevitably leave again.
“Well, at least stay for a few weeks. Let me get to know the woman you’ve become before you take off.”
“I haven’t changed that much, Mom. I’m just older. Maybe a bit meaner,” I say with a slightly self-deprecating noise clawing up my throat.
“My baby girl isn’t mean. Strong-willed and violent, maybe.”
“I’m pretty sure those two things together make someone mean, but I’ll take the compliment.”
Her wrinkled fingers smooth through my hair, reminding me of when she’d braid my hair every morning before a day spent at camp. Shimmer Lake Campground is my family’s legacy, but I’ve always feared that it would die with my parents.
Maybe Ash will surprise me and take over it for them, but I know I never will. The happy memories I made there have long since been shadowed by the painful ones. Being here and staying on the grounds in my parents’ house isn’t helping keep them buried. I couldn’t imagine living here full-time, walking the trails every day.
“Have you heard of anywhere hiring?” I ask, desperate to change the subject away from me.
“I’m afraid not. Have you checked Cherry Peak?”
“Yeah. Unless I want to clean dishes in Rustic Ridge, I’ve struck out.”
“Maybe something will pop up. There’s no rush to find something,” she says soothingly.
My stomach pinches. “Right.”
“What time are the girls coming to get you?”
“An hour or so. Lacey’s got to lock up the shop first.”
Lacey’s grandmother owns the second-hand shop in town, Twice Treasured, and is one of the only women who I can handle being friends with. The term “girl’s girl” hasn’t ever really applied to me, considering women look at me and decide I’m not worth getting to know. I’ve got one hell of a resting bitch face and don’t bother trying to hide it anymore. Lacey, however, is too outgoing to care. She’d be able to make friends with a concrete wall.
I’m sure it helps that we’ve known each other since pre-K, though. She knew me long before I turned into a bitch with a habit of self-sabotaging every potential friendship that approaches me. Not like there have been that many. Before I left,we were as close to best friends as I’d ever let us become. I make it a struggle for anyone to get close to me, but she did.
“It makes me happy that you’re going to meet Millie. You’ll love her,” Mom gushes.
I scrape my nail along the countertop, humming. “She’s Shade’s girlfriend, right?”
“Yep. And she’s new to town. Well, she’s been here for a few months now, but she’s not from the area.”
The adoration my mother so clearly feels for her bites a bit. I’ve been gone—a choice I willingly made—but I wasn’t expecting her to find another girl similar in age to me to grow close to.
“That’s nice, Mom.”
Mom sets the curling iron down on the vanity and presses a kiss to the back of my head. “Alright, you’re done and look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, an immediate bite of guilt following my jealousy. “I’ll probably be back late.”
“Has that ever stopped me from waiting up for you?”
“I’m not sixteen sneaking out to get drunk anymore.”
Mom grins knowingly. “No, you’re just going to a rodeo.”
“Touché.”
“I’ll be up if you need anything.”
