The sight brought back a memory I would have rather stayed buried forever. It was the first time I’d ever seen Nick’s true colours, but it was also not long after I had lost my grandpa and my mind was clouded with grief. Nick had misplaced his keys but blamed me for hiding them, even though I hadn’t. He tore apart the entire apartment, first looking under couch cushions and bed pillows and leaving them scattered, then moving to dumping out entire drawers. I finally got him to stop throwing more dinner plates across the kitchen when there were only a couple left unbroken once I found his keys in a pair of his pants he tossed into the laundry basket.
The only thing he said to me while snatching the keys out of my hand was“Why the fuck didn’t you look there first?”
I had never seen him act that way before, so I thought he’d apologize when he came home later that evening, except he didn’t. Instead, he got mad at me again because I hadn’t cleaned up the mess yet. I had cleaned up the glass and fixed some of my things that he threw around, but I didn’t realize he expected me to cleanall of iton my own.
I fought back my tears as I picked up some pieces of glass, trying my best to salvage anything I could as I cleaned up the mess and quickly as possible before anyone else saw.
“Oh my goodness! What happened here?” Trixie came in, followed by Calvin close behind.
“Oh my god, Stella. Are you okay?”
The look on Trixie’s face when she realized what was all over the barn floor ruined my resolve, the dam broke and the tears poured out of me.
“I’m so sorry, Trixie, I don’t know what happened. I just came out here to get the vases ready for Gloria to bring the flowers, and I found the barn trashed like this. Calvin…it was his idea, he wanted to surprise you and Vicky, and god, was it beautiful. I’m so sorry it’s all ruined.” I couldn’t help the sobs racking my body as I braced myself for impact. I didn’t expect either of them to hit me like Nick would’ve in this moment, but I expected their words to hurt just as much for ruining family heirlooms.
“There, there, dear. It’s all right.” Trixie pulled me into her, and I flinched before I softened in her embrace. I was still too scared to look at Calvin, he must be fuming, but at least Trixie didn’t hate me.
“It’s not all right, though. It’s ruined, can’t you see? We tried to create such a beautiful space for the Thanksgiving dinner tonight. How did this happen? Did I leave the door open?”
“The door wasn’t open, it was busted,” Calvin said hoarsely.
“It was probably a bear that came through,” Trixie said. “It happens, and there’s nothing you or I could have done to change anything about it.” She lifted my face and looked me in the eyes, a look of complete authority took over her as she wiped my tears and straightened my dress. “You listen to me when I tell you this.” I took a deep breath, ready to take her words to heart. “The fact that you put in the effort means so much more to me than the outcome.”
Her words soothed that version of me from years ago who thought a space trashed by someone else was my fault.
“But we are not letting this effort go to waste. We have an opportunity to change this outcome right now. Come on, let’s get busy. We have lots of time before people start coming.”
Trixie would not accept any more of my guilty apologies, and it was all hands on deck for the next few hours as we fixed up the barn. Gloria showed up with the flowers and helped out by washing all the doilies and laying them out in the sun to dry. Garrett and Calvin fixed all the tables and chairs and disposed of the broken glass while Trixie, Vicky, and I salvaged what we could and rearranged the decor on the tables. Melody and Olivia even popped by with some new string lights and helped hang them up. We had almost finished when I heard a knock on the barn door.
“Heard you could use a few more pieces.”
“Cami! What are you doing here?” I got down from the stepladder to greet the owner of the thrift store in town. Her hot pink hair seemed to stand out even brighter against her all-black studded leather jacket and dark baggy jeans that had chains attached to the pockets and belt loops.
“Calvin called and explained what happened, and, like, as if I’m just going to let this stuff sit in storage when it can be used here.” She opened the top of the box she was holding to reveal a rainbow of assorted colours of vintage glassware. There wasmore than enough stuff to replace what had been broken of Trixie’s.
“Cami, this is beautiful. How much do you want for it?”
“Oh my god. Nothing. Grandpa would probably smite me if I charge Trixie’s family anything when it comes to the Harvest Festival.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the comically exaggerated look of fear on her face.
“Thank you so much,” I said as I took the box from her hands.
“Of course, I have another in my car. I’ll go grab it and then I’ll help you get them set out.”
By the time we finished, the barn looked even more beautiful than it had initially, because we each had a hand in the outcome.
The turnout was amazing.It seemed like every single family in Love had shown up for the Harvest Bonfire festival. The barn looked incredible after we straightened everything up and Cami made her special delivery. The tables were still full of food, even though everyone had all gotten their fill.
The farmers’ market tables were dwindling as things were purchased over the course of the afternoon and evening. Even the whole crew from Hart and Heart Logging showed up to lend a helping hand. Well, almost everyone. I hadn’t seen Carter around anywhere all day, which felt weird when literally every other person in Love seemed to be here, but I tried not to let it sour my mood. It wasn’t a workday so there was no real obligation to show up.
We were just getting the bonfire lit as the sun set, and the band played outside the open barn doors, making for a perfect dance floor in between the two rows of tables. Stella made the right call arranging them the way she did.
And there she was, enjoying the dance floor most of all. The way she twirled in her long flowy dress brought a sense of relief to me, more so than the fullfarmyard did.
I was so worried that after discovering the trashed barn she wouldn’t have been able to let it go and have fun. Thankfully, Grandma Trixie’s words of advice were just what she needed to hear at that moment. Not to mention, seeing the proof of everyone showing up for her. That was something I truly loved about this town—we showed up for our own.
“You’ve worked so hard, baby, and look at how amazing this is.” Mom walked up and put her arm around me, slinking close to my side.
