Tammy Jane:Wait, seriously?
Marjorie Brown:He either fucked up or they’re having one hell of a morning after.
Henrietta Brown:Sigh. Admins,delete that.
Gravel kickedup from my tires and I sped into the driveway. I wanted to be back before she got up so she didn’t wake up alone.
Getting to and from Shady Acres took until after the sun had risen, and I was feeling like the biggest idiot for rushing out like I did. My phone was dead, so I had no way to call her, and I had a feeling she wouldn’t be thrilled if she woke up and saw my hastily written excuse for not being there.
I cursed when I didn’t see her car, but I needed to charge my phone and see if there was any sign that she’d seen it.
The house was as I left it, but was silent. My heart sank. She hated how quiet it could be.
My note was still on the dining room table and I slowly walked up to it. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but when I saw tearstains on it, I sucked in a sharp breath.
I fucked up. I should havebeen here.
Mom’s and my conversation was needed, and I hated that I hadn’t figured out my own emotions. I’d spent so long running from them that I didn’t know how to process them. I wanted to be better for Grace.
And she’d woken up alone.
Checking the time, I knew the Treasure Trove would be open, so the town square was my next stop. I tried to plan out what to say to her, but my mind was spinning like a top. I had no idea how to convey that I’d only meant to be gone for a few hours, and I needed to think and didn’t want to bother her.
I’d settled on some version of that when I pulled into the Treasure Trove.
Then I saw the closed sign when I tried to open the door.
My heart nearly stopped.
This was my best guess for where she could be. If she wasn’t at home or here, I had no other options on where she would go ifshe were upset. And not knowing where she was or if she was all right sent ice into my heart.
I had to get my phone to a charger andwaituntil it turned back on before I could message her, but would she even respond?
“So, what did ya do?” I jumped when I heard a voice. Next to me, Hugh was glaring.
“Nothing,” I muttered. The last thing I needed was for Hugh and the town to know what I’d done.
“She ain’t here and you look guilty. You did something.” He crossed his arms. “And you were together a day? That must be a new record.”
I didn’t have the patience for this today. All of my regret was quickly turning into anger. Could he not see that I had bigger things to do? “Yeah, okay. I messed up. I’m sure everyone was waiting for it.”
“We didn’t wait long at all.”
I gritted my teeth and pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering how I’d managed to make things go as wrong as they possibly could’ve.
“So, itwashim?” another voice asked, and I cursed.
Now it was worse.
Mark had walked up to Hugh. His eyes narrowed at me like I was a stain on his shirt.
“Yep,” Hugh said. “It was him.”
“Damn. It takes talent to mess things up that fast. What did you do?”
“That’s what I wanna know,” Hugh muttered.
“Cheating?”