My stomach coiled.Looks good enough to solve all of my problems?I sure hoped so. My hair would start turning gray soon if I didn’t get my shit paid off.Was it enough to get my shit together?
The benders would arrive soon, the same water whizzes as usual, I assumed. The noise rose as local troubadours marched in, instruments in hand and strumming simultaneously. Children ran under banners and around adults, their laughter vivid and lively. With nothing but joy and happiness surrounding me, why did my ribs tighten in on my chest?
My heartbeat picked up. Would tonight be enough to pay the commissioner? What would I do if it wasn’t?
“Oh, troubled tulips!” Maggie shouted, and before I could react, “He’s got the bouquet upside down!” She sprinted off, shouting a mixture of chants and waving her arms.
Which left me stranded there like a stray puppy. At least I’d dressed better than a stray puppy, wearing a dark gray gown with sheer off-the-shoulder sparkling sleeves. The topcorset was sheer too, but because of the flower embroidery, my skin didn’t show too much—I’d be the talk of the town if it did. I could hear the whispers:“Reece McCarthen showed up to her own event looking a bit… desperate.”
To be fair, I did feel desperate.
At least under my dress were my boots (considering my dress shoes were ruined). And under my boots were frilly socks because I figured if I had to be stressed, I might as well be stressed in frilly socks embroidered with frogs. Plus, I could run away easier in these, if need be. My brown wavy hair blew from my face as I remained frozen, some strands stuck to my lips and in my lashes.
“Reece!”
My soul left my skin, leaping from it as hands grabbed my shoulders from behind, only to find Faye’s strawberry blond hair by my side. “Gods,” I breathed, taking one look at her pinched expression to know she needed me for something. “Faye, do you need any help?”
Faye stared at me for a moment, and whatever she saw in my post-scared eyes, she blinked it away. “Yes, thank you. Goldie keeps…” her words continued. And continued. And continued.
Note to future self: if you ask Faye if she needs help, be sure to bring a gallon of water and a hair tie because she’ll put you to work.
My fingers cramped from the hundreds of ribbons she asked me to curl, but I welcomed the distraction. Before I knew it, the whole town encircled the dance floor and Fayestood front and center, meaning one thing—speech time. If my stomach had hands, that bitch knew how to fight. Tugging, twisting, and tormenting me until I considered having to run off for the nearest lavatory…
I closed in on the crowd, standing toward the back where, fortunately, nobody paid attention to me. Faye wasn’t in my sight, being as I stared into the backs of whoever stood in front, but the emotion in her words could be detected by any living creature within the vicinity with the ability to hear.
“It’s no secret to this town that I’m getting older; most of you have been around long enough to see it happen.” She trailed off and a few laughs sputtered from others. “But don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to be this old, for now. It’s given me the chance to watch parts of this family grow, break, and come back together. I’ve seen our children leave and explore the world on their own.”Okay, call me out.“And I’ve seen them come home.” Faye’s voice cracked, and I remembered I wasn’t the only one who’d left.
It turned out Faye and I had at least one thing in common: our wounds and who’d inflicted them.
“And that’s what tonight is about. We are a community—a family—and when one of us needs the rest, we will be there to answer. The McCarthen sanctuary has been a vital part of Honey Brooke as long as I have. I remember when Mr. Jones got his rear stabbed by one of his bulls, and what saved him? McCarthen’s healing cream.” While I sank into my skin and bones at the mention of our name, others laughed with the memories it brought. “And when you wake up on theweekends and want breakfast? The hellblazer eggs are a lifesaver, especially if your wife wants them.” Or your neighbor.
It’d be a lie if I said my eyes didn’t water. So many tales, laughs, andremember whens.
I’d left Honey Brooke three years ago feeling vulnerable, alone, and raw. I’d never expected to return and feel protected, supported, and healed. The rest of Faye’s speech drifted around me as I realized how much these people had already helped me.
Mr. Wilson, the special edition he’d kept, his generosity and kindness to a kid lost in life but found in books.
Faye Augustus and her teenage-girl survival guidance to a kid without a mother’s love.
Ruth and Harvey’s love, pastries, and everything in between.
The parents who’d paid me to act as a warrior princess for their daughter’s birthday when I had zero experience. All of the ones standing around, money spent and donations made, to help me. Me? Out of all the people.
I hadn’t been alone after all. Home found me along the way, I just needed to grow into it. I knew then, I’d found that something missing.
“She loves a good speech, doesn’t she?” A voice. Mint and honey. The shadow feeling of a hand around my waist. Laken.
“I suppose.”
It wasn’t silence that cascaded around us, but it felt similar. Like when there are so many noises around you—and in your head—that you actually can’t hear any of them. It sounded like a rambling, cacophonous mess. Clamorous. Stertorous.Clattering, thundering noises whirled around my mind, blurring the world around me as—
“Will you dance with me?”
As clarity struck.
I debated it. “The prodigal son?”
Laken’s lips curled into a crooked smirk. “And the golden child of Honey Brooke, herself.”
