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Chapter Seven
All the air left Juniper the second Masterson walked out her doors yesterday and had yet to come back. Nearly twenty-four hours and she still couldn’t breathe right. It hurt to draw any sized breath and hurt more to try in public.
She had one good thing going for her though. She’d reclaimed her wedding dress and right now she didn’t care if it rotted at the mercy of moths. At leastshedidn’t have it.
Shoulder to shoulder they bumped and swayed their way through the thick crowd. The results of Gran’s online marketing plan to fill the festival with new blood. She didn’t really know. Never enough hours in the day to really catch every detail of all the moving parts of her family’s lives.
Last year Gran discovered the power of Facebook and had their summer shindig jumping. Even the Hollywood elite showed up. Everyone profited. Everyone but the wedding planner, oddly enough. Maybe they should do something about that. Set up a Vegas-style drive-thru. That should generate some cash. Get the picture-perfect wedding without the cheesy Elvis impersonations.
“Come on, you can’t sit around with a sour face all night.”
“Watch me,” Juniper tossed back. Ivy and Callie took it as a personal invitation to gang up on her with ice cream and cold coffee.
After hearing the news of the called-off wedding, her family had rallied behind her. Gran and Mom had pushed them out the door to enjoy music and fireworks. But all it did was make her want to cry more.
If this was what love did, she wanted no part of it.
“That stuff won’t make me smile, just plump.”
“Happy plump,” Callie countered and passed her an ice cream cone.
“Trust us there’s no better break-up food.”
They walked hip to hip admiring the handmade crafts, colorful floral dresses hanging from wires and a few rockers breaking out wicked string solos.
None of it made her want to be here. After what Marshall did yesterday, she’d sent half a dozen text messages, as many emails, and called. Nothing. She even called Shawn to no avail. No one wanted to talk to her. Happiness might as well be an alien emotion.
They found a bench nearest the stage and cleared off the sand left by some kid probably. “Are you going to eat that?”
Juniper passed the cone over to Ivy, and Callie joined them on the bench.
Ivy scooted over to make room. “I don’t know what arrangement you two had, but last year I was kind of in the same boat as you.”
Juniper listened to Ivy as she watched musicians leave the stage while another band set up.
“And it turned out all peachy for you, yeah we all know.”
“Hey, that’s not fair and not the whole truth.”
Juniper hung her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just that every time I look at you and Aspen all I can think about is how I want what you have. It makes my heart so happy to see you two together and at the same time, I want to feel what that kind of love is like, too. I work with it every day, but I never feel the magic.”
“Until Marshall.”
Juniper craned her head back and shoved her hands into her pockets willing the tears to heed her warning. They didn’t listen all too well. A stray tear slipped past her control to fall down her cheek.
Tapping on a mic caught their attention as the coordinator of the summer fest passed out prizes to the families of kids on the paper angels of Wish Alley to the sound of clapping and cheers.
Her heart fell. This was the moment she wanted to share with him the most. To see his reaction and share a little more of her life with him.
She leaned over to Callie so she could hear. “Look, I’m heading back.” She leaned into Ivy’s ear, “I’m going to head back to the B&B so I can get an early start tomorrow.” She would stay one more night before getting back to her life and her empty apartment.
Callie and Ivy shook their heads. “We’ll all go.” They linked arms.
Ivy slipped the key into the lock of her home.
With the door closed, she could barely make out the sounds of the bands.
Good, let it all die a fiery death!
