Page 49 of More Than My Hometown

No kidding…

“Well, I don’t plan on missing anything else for a while. I didn’t tell y’all on Friday because it wasn’t officially official, but I agreed to fill in as an EMT with the fire department.”

“So…you’re staying?” Brenna asks hesitantly.

I nod, nerves swirling in my tummy. This announcement feels like a rehearsal for letting the rest of Hickory Hills know. For preparing myself for the reactions of everyone I know to have comments about this news.

“There’s still a lot to figure out, but…yeah.” I shrug, trying to keep it nonchalant, even though I’m feeling anything but inside. “It’s time for my next chapter, and that chapter is here.”

With Ewan…

A chorus of squeals and yays bounces off the kitchen walls, filling me to the brim. Like I can finally exhale and stop waiting for someone to ask why I left all those years ago.

“Your parents must be thrilled,” Miss Belle coos.

“Yeah, Mama, no one was thinking about Chief Phillips’s reaction,” Willa snarks. “Ewan’s, on the other hand…”

I press my lips together, trying to hold in my reaction. Miss Belle rolls her eyes, ignoring her daughter’s comment.

“Was Ewan over the moon when you told him?” Dolly asks. “Did y’all celebrate? Loudly?”

Her emphasis is there again, and this time Margeaux catches it and gives her a look, but it still doesn’t make any more sense.

“He’s—” I catch myself, stopping midsentence. Dolly’s taunt from the bakery earlier this week slides into my brain, lighting up like a marquee on a dark night.

Because I promise you, Ewan is dying to give Willa some payback.

I gasp, pointing at my cousin. “You owe me an explanation!”

Dolly throws her head back, a loud, boisterous guffaw bursting out of her. Her expression turns mischievous as she looks to Willa and then me, like she can’t wait to spill the tea.

“I missed something,” Sawyer comments.

“I think we all did,” Brenna replies.

Dolly shrugs, still playing it coy. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s why you moved out of the loft.” She points to Brenna, before turning to Margeaux, her smile growing wider. “And you are very excited Hux and I are all but moved out.”

“Ohhhhh.” Brenna giggles, leaning over to look at Sawyer. “Be happy Anton lived alone.”

Sawyer shakes her head. “True, but I lived here when I first came to town, so…”

My head bounces between each woman like a hacky sack making its way around the circle, trying to follow along. They’ve all caught on. I seem to be the only one left in the dark.

“Not that we were really up to anything…at first,” Sawyer continues.

“At first,” Willa scoffs. “Who knows what that bedroom has seen now.”

“Willa Mae,” Miss Belle chides. “You have no room to talk, young lady. I have said it before, and I will say it again, do not think for one second that I am unaware of what my children are doing. Or I suppose in your case, it was who.”

My mouth drops, hanging wide open so I could catch flies, as my mama would put it. Because of all the people on this planet to call out Willa Hayes on her behavior, there is really only one. And that is her own mama.

“You didn’t actually know we were sleeping together, just that I secretly had feelings for him,” Willa replies, trying to defend herself.

“Ewan knew though,” Brenna quips.

I whip my head to her. Say what?

Brenna nods, then launches into the story, or at least the version she heard from Milo. Each woman takes a turn adding in details from the version of the story they got, Willa trying to defend herself along the way, until I have a perfect picture in my mind. Suddenly the idea that Ewan might be itching for payback makes a lot more sense.