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“Yes, she’s with Jonah and that chef guy over here from Roots.”
“And with Gil and O,” Jonah says in a bored voice. “Just so you get your facts straight before you go gossiping and this thing goes all over town.”
I shoot him an annoyed look. The last thing we need is more trouble on top of everything else that’s going on.
“Four?!” Misses Lawrey yells.
Before I can answer her, or see the fall-out from this revelation, I turn around, taking the guys with me, and start to head back home.
“Why are we leaving?” Dean asks.
“Because you forgot to take measurements,” I sulk, avoiding the real problem.
Jonah twirls me around, making me face him. “What’s wrong?”
I sigh. “You know this town, right? This is Charlington. In about an hour everyone will know and everyone will have an opinion, and not all of them are going to be so broad minded as Miss Frieda and Miss Patterson. Most of them are going to judge us, then they’re going to think they have a say in what’s going on between us. And I fucking hate that. It’s the thing I hate most about living in a small town. Back when I published my first book? I was absolutely fine with total strangers reading it. But the idea that these nosy towns folk I know were going to read it? That gave me anxiety. It’s the exact same thing.”
Jonah kisses my forehead. “Breathe, Mor. Just breathe. We’re not going to be bullied by people who fail to see what it is we have.”
“And what would that be exactly?” I ask.
“Easy,” Dean answers. “Happiness and a whole lot of love.”
“No, we’re not doing this again. Last time everything went to hell in a handbasket,” O says as a statement. Last time we went book shopping we ended up in a shouting competition, I ran off and Celia dragged me into an alley and pulled a knife on me. The memory makes me shudder.
O sticks to his statement, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his hazel eyes squinted. It’s the second time that day we’re out in the town. This time we’re going for groceries, and I swear that I’ve seen at least five people give us weird looks on the walk over here. Guess good news spreads fast. There even was one of the Jacobsens kids, who’s now in high school, who yelled ‘Girl power’ as I walked by.
“What do you mean, no?” My own look is just as stubborn as his. We’re standing in front of the bookshop, and I’m convincing O to come in with me, but he’s being a hardass. I need some retail therapy. The town butting in on my love life is not sitting well with me.
“I mean, we don’t have any time to go shopping for books. We’re getting food. We need to eat. If I let you into that store, I’ll lose you within ten minutes, and then you’ll proceed to roam the isles for the next hour. Then I’ll have to carry the endless stack of books you’ll inevitably take home, and we won’t even get back with food for dinner.”
“But,” I whine.
“No! We’ll go book shopping another time. Didn’t Gil give you like a whole stack of books to read, and don’t you have a manuscript to edit?”
His hazel eyes seem kind, but he’s saying mean words and I want to act like a spoiled little brat, even if I know he’s right.
He places his hands on my shoulders and starts pushing me in the direction of the supermarket. I let him walk against my back and whisper that he can have me for the whole evening if he lets me go buy some books.
The warm sound of his laughter fills the street, until he covers my ear with his mouth, asking me what makes me think he won’t do that anyway, making my stomach flutter.
Before we can enter the supermarket, a hand grabs my wrist and my heart starts hammering like crazy. For a second I think Celia is back and is going to press a knife against my skin. Fear and rationality don’t go hand in hand, and it will take a while to completely lose my fear of a girl who’s no longer alive.
But someone is grabbing my hand and something is going on. When I look up, I see Jonah’s mother staring back at me. She stands in the alley right beside the supermarket, pulling me closer to her.
“Let me go,” I say. I’m so proud my voice is not trembling.
O tries to get between us and rips her hand off my arm, freeing me up. “What the fuck?” he asks her.
“So glad you could join me for a talk, Morgan. Oliver, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you.” Her voice is soft and sickeningly sweet and total bullshit, because she is neither of those things. She’s a hellion, and I wish she’d just disappear out of our lives.
“What do you want?” O asks, the warmness of his voice completely gone.
“What I want is my sons back, but that seems to be out of the question. Someone set them up against me,” she eyes O as if it’s his fault that she got sent to prison because of her own criminal behavior. She gives me the creeps, and I want to get out of here. “So now that that’s no longer an option, I want back in the good graces of those who have always been fair and kind to me. And once again, that is ruined because of my darling sons.”
“Oh cut the crap, you never gave a dime about either of those boys. All you cared about was yourself,” O practically spits out, trying to get between me and her.
She scoffs. “Hard words for someone who last saw me at twelve. Did your parents tell you these stories? Shame what happened to them. Can’t say I miss them very much. They were always out to get Jonah away from me. Of course, they did manage to steal him from me. But look who’s the last one standing now.”
