Page 26 of Manors & Mischief

My mother hands her the lighter with the long neck. Trav takes the paper and cardboard bag away from me and goes to place the easily burnable items in there, but my mother stops him. “Travis, would you mind if Devon does that this year?”

I glare at my mother out of the corner of my eye, but Trav can’t pass along the duty fast enough. He hands me the bag with a shit-eating grin. His eyes nearly dance as if they all planned this out ahead of time.

Words jump up my throat that beg to be said, but it’s useless. If my mom wants me to stuff the bonfire full of the easily ignitable paper goods, that’s what I’ll be doing. I just don’t know why she’s meddling in it to begin with.

I clear my throat and step into Travis’s place, stuffing the bonfire with bits of cardboard and paper. Paper on the bottom, then the cardboard which will burn a little longer. Once it produces enough flame, the wood will go up easily.

When I’m done, I step back and motion for Ember to take my place. She steps in awkwardly and starts to bend over when my mother stops her. With a low voice, she says, “It’s customary for you to say a little something.”

“Oh.”

Now Ember’s face is about as bright as her namesake.

She clears her throat. “Thank you for this honor,” she says, a little louder.

“Speak up, Dear,” my mother whispers.

I cringe because I can almost feel Ember’s awkwardness wafting off her in waves, but this is so my mom. If she feels like someone needs a little push, she’ll make sure they get a shove. Apparently, she feels like Ember needs to become more a part of the town, so she’ll give her the leg up whether she wants it or not.

“I’m honored to be here,” she says, her voice carrying on with authority. “Harvest Falls has welcomed me with open arms, largely due to all of you and how special you all are. It has always been my dream to live in a small town with such great people, and I’m so honored to be able to live here. I hope this Bonfire signifies the bright season we’re all about to have.”

“Hear, hear,” a male voice calls from the back. It sounded like Joe Bush, the mechanic.

A chorus of more “here, here’s” follow, and finally, Ember bends over to light the paper. As expected, it catches fire along with the other paper products which then starts the wood. Rippling flames catch the dry sticks Trav placed in there earlier, and soon enough, smoke is billowing out the top.

Another round of applause and cheers fill the small square. Ember peers at it, her gaze watching the fire dance. A soft smile appears on her face, and something in me just begs me to say something. “You’re so very honored, huh?”

She blinks at me. “Excuse me?”

“You said honored like three times in your speech.”

The calm look on her face expires, and her face flushes again. I can’t tell which I like better. “You try making a speech with no notice and not repeat words.”

“I thought she spoke from the heart,” Trav says. “Plus, we’ve all been put in the speech position by Mrs. Lachey.”

My mother feigns shock. “Me?”

We all laugh.

“It does someone good to have to speak from the heart at a moment’s notice.” She peers at me, her gaze narrowing. “And I thought what she said was very nice. Something you could take some pointers on, Devon.”

It’s not lost on me what Mom is doing. Maybe she senses the same sort of weird tension that Trav does. They think it’s something romantic, but it’s not. It’s… Well, I’m not sure what it is. I want to say it’s genuine dislike, but I don’t think that’s true. It’s jealousy, and yeah, maybe I am acting like a jerk because of it but there’s only so much a man can take in his life. All I wanted was to make something of myself. Genuinely obtainable things keep popping up, but then the finish line moves further and further out.

My mother wraps her arm through Trav’s and tells him it’s time for a “very small glass” of his pumpkin ale. My mother rarely drinks beer. She’s more of a wine girl, but she frequents the town businesses as much as she can. However, she’s taking my buffer with her and probably on purpose. Trav realizes it too. He wraps his arm around my mom, and gives me a wink as they walk away.

“I don’t know why you find fault in everything I do.”

When I turn to face Ember, she has her arms crossed in front of her, her chin sticking out in the air again.

“I thought you were just mad because I bought the house you wanted. I get it. That must have sucked, but you acting this way about everything I do is just plain childish. So… grow up.”

She spins on her heel and marches back to Bea. The two of them huddle together, and I can imagine the first-hand report that Ember is giving Bea about me. The worst part about what I said is that I didn’t mean to. It’s just that my mouth automatically defaults to sarcasm around her. If I were her, I wouldn’t like me either.

The heat from the bonfire grows, and I take a step back. The flames are now dancing out of the top, making the whole square glow. People drift around, settling in groups. I stand there for a few minutes by myself contemplating my life choices when someone joins me.

“You sure are making a great first impression.”

I peer down at Bea, and she gives me a smile that tries to stay friendly, but I see the disappointment in it. That might hurt more since we’ve all known each other since we were kids. We were playing together even before Kindergarten. She and Trav, and many of the other people around town, I’ve known since we were babies. Our mothers all met at the park or were in the same book club, or any other numerous things to do around town. That’s small-town life.