I tried not to think too hard about that. While we were taking things slow, I knew that Dane had high expectations for me and for our relationship. He was like his mother in that they had good intentions, but sometimes I felt like a project to them.?
Like a broken doll that they were convinced, once fixed, would be the best and prettiest doll in all of Savannah, ready and waiting to do whatever they wanted me to do.?
Eunice had no girls of her own, just her two boys who couldn’t have been more different. When Charlie and I came along, she was helpful and kind, working hard to get us on our feet and working to make sure her old friend, Cole, had everything he needed to raise the two of us properly.?
Having overseen the restoration efforts for SCAD when the school scooped up several historical buildings in downtown, she had the in when it wastime to enroll Charlie and get him on track to a budding art career. But for me, the more stubborn of the two, she was never quite sure what to do other than dress me up like a Barbie and take me to tea and the spa.?
The Wilders had offered to send me to business school. They’d offered to send me anywhere if I wanted it. Eunice once honed-in on my small, juvenile hobby of watching old, classic films and tried to create the narrative of me being an actress or a director one day. I just liked going to the old theater in town. Not because of the black-and-white films, but because they had better air conditioning than my apartment.?
“You can be anything you want,” she’d always told me, “and you’re not stuck following in the footsteps of the rest of the O’Malley clan, running that old bar. You were never tethered to it. Your momma made sure of that when she left the city and let your uncle run things.”
But she was wrong. I was as anchored as they came. The bar was in my soul and my heart, pulsing through my veins just like it was through Uncle Cole’s. Living in the home my mother grew up in, hearing the sounds of the bar below was like a lullaby, something that connected us now that she was no longer here. Even if it wasn’t my momma’s dream, it was mine.?
And when Lee left for Nashville, I couldn’t be bothered to finish my application to the University of Georgia or even think about college at all. I wanted to do the same thing I’d always wanted to do.?
Stay home.?
“Let’s skip heading to Pence for drinks. I’ll text Sutton. She’ll understand,” Dane said flatly.
I nodded and used the sleeve of Lee’s old hoodie to wipe away my tears.
“He’s home by the way,” I finally blurted out, not making eye contact. “Sutton and I ran into him at Clary’s this morning.”?
Dane flinched as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began typing furiously.?“I’m heading back to Momma’s. Why don’t you get yourself dressed?” He still wouldn’t look at me when he said, “I hate seeing you like this, Magnolia. You have so much potential.”?
Dane took his leave, and I sat alone on the floor, letting the last track on Lee’s album fade into the air as if it were giving me one final lyrical embrace.
“I saw you standing there, with that look in your eye,
Like a summer storm was brewing, right beneath the sky.
You said forever was a promise, that we both believed,
But forever’s just a whisper when the heart’s got to leave.
So I’m walking away slow, trying to let it go,
Every step I take, I’m letting the memories show.”
Chapter ten
MAGNOLIA
Islammed the stereo off, the abrupt silence slicing through the room. My journal fell from my hands, clattering to the floor, as I snatched up my buzzing phone, my heart racing with the sudden interruption.
“So, I’m at the Wilders getting set up, and the long-lost brothers just had one hell of a reunion,” Sutton whisper-yelled, letting the water in the big, farm-style sink in the Wilders’ kitchen run at full speed so that no one would hear her.?
“Ugh.” I sniffled as I pulled myself off the ground and surveyed myself in the mirror. I had about two hours to get ready, and things were looking rough. “Did Dane tell him? He left here about ten minutes ago.”?
“Not that I could hear,” Sutton sighed. “Now Dane’s locked in the office with Vance, and it’s all hushed tones, and Eunice is running around like a cat in heat… oh shit… hang on. Hey, Eunice! Why, yes, itisMagnolia on the line. Sure, hang on. She wants to talk to you, sorry!”?
Sutton handed the phone to Eunice, and I sank onto the edge of the bed to brace myself.?
“Hey, darlin’,” she drawled. “Thank you so much for getting the flowers all situated. They’re so lovely. As I told you, you’ve always had impeccable taste.”?
“Of course, Eunice. I was just about to get ready to head on over. Y’all need me to stop for anything?”?
“No, no. I did want to tell you, though, that Lee is home. What a nice surprise it was walking in my front door today and seeing his face. I hope this won’t make you uncomfortable.”?
