“A little.”
That wasn’t good.
Magnolia always ate. Even bad days still came with appetite.
Meadow forced a slow breath through her nose. “I’ll sit with her.”
Ray nodded and stepped back.
Meadow knew her Dad was tired even with Rena’s help. She knew he tried to take care of his wife because it was what he signed up for. Ray wore his vow of for better or for worse like a badge of honor. There was nothing he wasn’t willing to do for his wife, except the one thing he needed to do, that he couldn’t…stop growing old.
In his old age, he didn’t move like he used to, which meant he couldn’t handle Magnolia by himself.
Zaire lowered his voice. “You want me to give y’all a minute?”
Meadow nodded her head. “Yes, please.”
He gave her one last look before stepping out.
Magnolia just stared at her.
“You ready for me to continue the story, Mama?”
“Mmhmm, baby,” Magnolia forced herself to smile.
“I’ve been dying to get back home to tell you what happened next.”
A real smile covered Magnolia’s face.
“Okay, Mama,” Meadow whispered, easing herself onto the edge of the bed again. “I’ll tell you the rest.”
Magnolia’s eyelids fluttered, not quite open but listening.
Meadow swallowed hard and tucked a curl behind her ear. “You remember the story I told you earlier? The one with the girl and the land and the sky that didn’t give her no peace?”
Magnolia’s fingers twitched lightly against the blanket.
Meadow smiled faintly. “Well…she met somebody.” Her breath wavered, but she pushed through the sting building behind her eyes. Talking about Zaire made her emotional.
“He wasn’t part of the plan,” Meadow hummed with a silly glint in her eyes. “He wasn’t supposed to show up. She had her whole life planned out…just work and take care of her Mama and mind her business. No distractions…no men…no hope, really.” She laughed softly, humorless. “She was raised to be independent…to focus. Raised to handle her life even when it wasn’t fair.”
Magnolia inhaled slowly, lashes trembling.
“But then he came along,” Meadow whispered, “and messed all that up.” Her voice cracked. “He’s…good, Mama. Likereallygood. And I know that’s the part that scares me the most. I know how to handle the bad ones. I know how to walk away from disappointment before it hits. I know how to pick myself up when somebody drops me. I done been dropped before.”
Her eyes brimmed as she blinked until tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. “But the good ones?” Meadow shook her head.“I don’t know what to do with them. I don’t know how to hold a man who looks at me like I’m the whole universe. I don’t know how to be soft with somebody who actually listens. I don’t know how to trust somebody who tells me I don’t have to do this alone anymore.”
Another tear fell. This one slid onto her mother’s blanket.
“And I’m scared,” she whispered. “I’m so scared because…I don’t know if he’s Prince Charming or the glass slipper.”
Magnolia stirred the slightest bit, her fingers reaching for Meadow’s wrist like a reflex memory.
Meadow leaned into the touch, breath rising. “Because one could save me… and the other could break me, and I don’t know which one he is yet.” Her shoulders trembled, her lips parted, and the truth she’d been wrestling with since Emerald City came tumbling out.
Prince Charming meant safety…meant having someone show up for you ready to slay all your dragons. The glass slipper meant something shiny that fit for a moment, but cracked the second she put her weight on it. She didn’t know which one he was yet, and that scared her more than anything she’d ever had to face. Because if she chose wrong this time, it wouldn’t just hurt her…it would cost her peace.
“And what’s worse…I think I already love him,” Meadow admitted. “I know it’s fast. I know it doesn’t make sense. I know nobody would believe it if I said it out loud. But it feels real…and I feel stupid…and I feel hopeful…and I feel terrified - all at once. And I don’t know what to do with any of it.”
