AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head. “I think you have me confused—”
“Will Reynard. I remember when you left. It was all anyone could talk about. Taking bets on how long until you came crawling back.” She shrugs and sips from a travel mug. “You did better than people expected. But they’re still talking about you.”
I tilt my head to study the unapologetically blunt girl. “Have we met?”
“Nope. I’m Bailey Walters.”
The name tugs on something in my subconscious, and a moment later, the memory is there. “Oh,” I say, and she beams, as if proud of her infamy.
“I’m sorry about your engagement.”
“If you knew Rory, you’d be congratulating me.”
“That bad?” I ask.
“Worse.” She reaches into the cooler and refills her travel mug from a large thermos. Flower petals in a pink-purple liquid pour out.
She catches me staring and holds the thermos out to me. “Want some? It’s ginseng, rosemary, and a few colorful-looking flowers with names I can’t pronounce. It’s supposed to get your creative juices flowing. It tastes good too. Kind of like bubble gum mixed with tree bark.”
My nose wrinkles, and she laughs. “Yep, that was my first reaction when Maeve made it for me. But—it works. I painted the piece I submitted with my art-school application after I drank this stuff for a week. Theycalledme to offer me a spot. That’s unheard of, by the way.”
“Congratulations,” I say, feeling the heat of Annette’s glare find the back of my neck. My cue to go.
“Thanks. It’s a dream come true, right? I mean, not the expense—jeez, they could have offered me a scholarship with that phone call. But at least Maeve is helping with that.”
The hair on the back of my neck rises. “She’s helping with the expense? Like paying your tuition?”
Bailey snorts a laugh. “God, no. Maeve doesn’t have any money. She’s got some investor friend who owes her a favor. He’s going to see what he can do. I wasn’t sure, but she got me this far, so why not.”
“Wait. You gave her money?”
“All of the money I’d put aside for my wedding,” Bailey says, oblivious to how incredibly naive she sounds. “No risk, no reward, right?”
I take a breath, which does nothing to lower my rising blood pressure. It’s not my place to tell Bailey she’s made a huge mistake. Besides, what’s done is done.
“I hope it all works out for you.”
“Thanks.” She considers me. “You know, I get why you left like you did. Trying to do the right thing and give people here notice—just gives them more time to judge my life choices.”
Like I just was.
Behind me, an argument breaks out over whether Kingsette’s colors are green and gold or gold and green. Bailey rolls her eyes, and I feel her exasperation on a kindred spirit level.
My mouth opens against my brain’s better judgment. “You know, I have some friends who moved to New York from LA. I can put you in touch, if you need a place to stay.”
“Really? That’d be great!” Her voice rises in a way that sounds staged. She glances around, as if seeking an audience, the way Annette does. “I just rented a place in Alphabet City with two guys I met at orientation. Rory would have killed me if he and I were still a thing. I totally trust them, though. But it’d be nice if I had a friend in town.”
“My friend might be able to set you up with a job too. If you need. I know how hard it was for me when I left town. Stepping into the wider world outside of Kingsette is jarring—a little bit of support from home would go a long way.”
She beams. “That’s really sweet of you. You know, you really don’t deserve all the stuff everyone’s saying about you.”
Bailey’s backhanded compliment—or was that a subtle insult?—makes me grit my teeth. “This town always needs someone to talk about.”
We fall silent, and Bailey fidgets with a crystal pendant hanging from her neck. She dips her brush into a dab of blue paint on her palette and lifts it to the canvas.
“Welp, I didn’t mean to hijack your walk,” she says. “And your ice cream’s melting.”
My feet don’t take the cue. “Bailey, can I ask you a question.”
