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“Thought we weren’t talking about her,” Mr. Twillings snapped.
“That’s fact, not gossip,” Mr. Wilson said.
Everyone grumbled their agreement except Esther who seemed to be having an off day with her hearing aid. “Is Poppy coming tonight?” she asked.
“Ok everyone,” I said, clapping my hands. “Today we’ll continue the watercolors we started last week.”
“I’d rather work on your love life,” Mrs. Adams said.
“I second that,” Mr. Wilson said, raising his hand.
“All in favor,” Gladys said, raising her hand too. Everyone else raised theirs, including Esther, though I doubt she knew what she was agreeing with.
I rubbed my forehead. “You won’t work until we talk about this?”
They all nodded.
I blew out a breath. “Fine. I was arrested last week for tattooing a minor. I ended things with Poppy because I don’t want to take her down with me. She deserves better than me.”
“We know all about the arrest,” Gladys said. “Every one of us submitted a character statement to that lovely Everly girl.”
“I’ve called my son daily to give him hell,” Mr. Fitzwilliam added. “What’s the point of having the police chief in the family if he can’t get rid of a little ticket? Between me, Brandi, and Max, he’s at his wit’s end. And we’re not stopping until he calls that girl’s parents and tries to talk some sense into them.”
“I started a petition to have the charges dropped,” added Mr. Wilson. “I have over two hundred signatures so far, and that’sjust the folks who’ve come into the pharmacy. We’re knocking on doors this weekend. Our goal is a thousand.”
“Y’all did all that for me?” I asked, my voice shaky.
“Of course, we did,” Mille said. “I’m prepared to take the witness stand, if need be, and so is everyone else, except Esther,” she added loudly, pointing to the woman. “For obvious reasons.”
“My ears are shot but I can still write,” Esther said. “The letter I gave Everly was five pages long.”
“Now, back to Poppy,” Mr. Twillings said. “I understand you think you’re doing the right thing, but from where we’re sitting, you’re just breaking her heart and yours.”
“What’s the point in that?” Mrs. Adams asked.
They all grunted like they couldn’t think of any reason worth mentioning.
“Having known Logan,” Mr. Twillings said in a small voice. “I’m certain he wouldn’t have wanted you to hold on to the guilt the way you have either.”
“You’ve got to let it go, Theo,” Mr. Wilson said. “Move forward with Poppy.”
Then, as if they’d agreed ahead of time, everyone but Mr. Wilson rose from their chairs at varying speeds, shuffled into the hall, and headed as a pack to the exit.
They didn’t understand. No one did. The guilt. The shame. The fear that at any moment the life I’d built would come crashing down, taking everyone I loved with it.
Once the others had left the building, Mr. Wilson walked to the front of the room and handed me a business card. “You’re right, you know,” he said. “You’re not good enough for Poppy. Not yet. That girl deserves a man who’d move heaven and earth, and more importantly, his own bullshit, to be with her. Believe me, I speak from experience. I did a tour in Vietnam, and I’ve been putting in the work ever since to be the man I want to be.I’m pulling for you, Theo. We all are. You just need to step up to the challenge.”
He gave my shoulder a pat and left. I flipped the card over and found the name and number for a therapist in Jericho. I shoved it in my pocket and pulled out my phone to text Aiden. I didn’t feel like spending the evening in my empty house, but when I unlocked the screen, I had a text from an unknown number.
As soon as I started reading the string of rebukes in Greek, I knew they were from Patera. Nothing had changed since the trial. I’d ruined my life and brought shame to the family. He wished I’d never been born. I was dead to him.
But within the usual rant, something stood out: The names of every member of Logan’s family. Plus, Cal, Aiden, and both their parents. Even Mr. Twillings and my high school English teacher Mrs. Evers. In short, everyone in Peace Falls who my father might remember. Plus a few people he’d never met, including Max, Rose, and Mr. Fitzwilliam. They’d each reached out to my parents begging them to convince me to accept Everly’s help and fight both the recent charges and my prior conviction.
I wondered what my life would be like if Patera hadn’t disowned me after the trial. It definitely impacted the way I saw myself. I’d done something so terrible, my own father couldn’t stand the sight of me, and my own mother hadn’t loved me enough to fight him. It’d been easy to let the guilt I’d planted deep when Logan died spread like kudzu. A part of me was grateful. I’d never have met Max if my parents had welcomed me home with open arms. I never would have found my passion as a tattoo artist. But maybe, I would have been able to move forward.
Instead, I’d doubled the shame Patera felt and swallowed it as my own. My father had been the voice in my head for too long. Perhaps it was time I listened to everyone else around me. All the people who’d tracked down my father in another country,hoping he’d try to convince me to let go of my mistakes. Or, better yet, I could be more like Poppy and not give a shit what anyone else thought of me.
My fingers shook as I texted back one word:Antio.A cold and final goodbye.