We talk for another hour about nothing and everything—her progress on the B&B, the chaos Pepper and Baabara have been causing, Gran’s latest TikTok campaign. Normal things. Comfortable things. But when we hang up, I’m left with the terrifying reality that this chipper woman and her comforting arms are not enough to keep my lights on.
21
Eva
I wake up feeling settled… and that’s unsettling.
I spent my whole life bouncing around apartments, never sure if there would be food outside of free school lunch. It’s only been a few years since I was able to move into Esther’s house and buy stuff like framed art and nice bedding.
All of which I’ll be moving out here to my bed-and-breakfast. Which is chaos at the moment. There is no reason for me to feel calm, and yet …
I have the support of my family, and I have a man coming back here to make things work with me. I have a secret fantasy of moving in with him, so there’s one more room available over here for me to rent out.
I’m making mental moves with this guy.
I’m still smiling about it when I walk Baabara home after her latest jailbreak. She trots beside me like a woolly dog, occasionally head-butting my thigh to remind me she exists. As if I could forget.
Gran is on the porch with Latonya when we arrive, the two of them deep in conversation over tea.
“There’s our escape artist,” Gran calls out. “And her accomplice.”
I deposit Baabara back in her palace and join the women on the porch.
“You look different today,” Gran observes, studying me over her teacup. “I told you that boy would figure it out, eventually.”
“He’s not a boy, Gran. He’s thirty-five.”
“Everyone under sixty is a boy to me, dear.” She pats the chair beside her. “Sit. Have some tea. Tell us everything.”
So I do. I tell them about Tiddy’s prank, about Asher’s decision, about the flutters and fizz in my body at the thought of all the potential here romantically and professionally and socially.
I look out at Pierce Acres in the distance—the house, the maple grove, the sugar shack that still needs work but is slowly coming together. My place. My project. My life.
“Can I ask you something?” I say.
“Always.”
“How did you know that Fork Lick was where you belonged? That this was your life?”
Gran is quiet for a moment, considering. “I didn’t at first. I came here as a young bride, following a man I loved to a place I’d never been. For a while, I resented it.”
“What changed?”
“I did.” She smiles. “I stopped waiting for life to happen somewhere else and started building it here. I put down roots, made connections, created something that was mine. One day I woke up and realized this wasn’t just where I lived—it was who I was.”
Latonya nods. “Same for me. Came here from Climax because the rent was cheap. Stayed because the people became family.”
“You don’t think it’s irresponsible?” I ask. “Giving up my life in Pittsburgh for a maple grove I didn’t know existed?”
“Irresponsible is learning you have roots and then running away because you’re afraid to tap into them,” Latonya says firmly. “You’re staying, and that’s brave.”
The word settles into my chest. I’ve never thought of myself as brave. I’ve always just been the baby Storm.
“You’re not just gaining property and a business,” Gran says softly. “I see something special with you and Asher. I’ve known that boy his whole life, and he was cautious even before Lia took ill. You’ve got what he needs, Eva.”
“I don’t know if I did anything special. I just… broke his bones a little.”
“That’s exactly what he needed. I think you needed a good rattle, too.” She pats my hand again. “Don’t underestimate the power of a good tempest, Eva Storm. Sometimes that’s all anyone needs.”
