Page 56 of Love Lessons

What struck me the most was the way he’d drawn my belly. He hadn’t attempted to minimize it, which would have been insulting. The roll I often tried desperately to conceal with Spanx was on full display, yet it somehow looked… cute? Maybe even… sexy?

I swallowed, taking in this very precise detail. It was just an extra line, a tiny detail that he could’ve left out entirely. But his inclusion of it made me believe he thought it was sexy, too.

I grinned at my phone, chewing my thumbnail as I typed a response.

Kendall: I’m alive. And falling in love with myself because of the way you drew me. I could cry.

Mason: Good to know you’re alive. And I hope those are tears of happiness… because your body is incredible.

Mason: Probably shouldn’t have said that.

Mason: Anyway, are you psyched for today?

Kendall: Psyched? No. Anxious? Yes.

Mason: Everything’s going to be fine. People are going to have a blast and the PTO’s going to make a buttload of money. You’ve done all you can. Might as well let yourself have some fun today.

Kendall: Thanks. I can’t wait to see you and Finley.

I couldn’t stop smiling as I got dressed that morning, tying my fall festival t-shirt in a knot in the front and pairing it with a long, black skirt. I grabbed a yellow cardigan before I headed out, knowing it was going to be cold by nightfall.

Jamie and Daya were raking leaves in the front yard together that morning as I left, which I took as a good sign they were getting along. “I’m telling you,” Daya was saying, “we’re destroying the ecosystem right now. Do you know how many helpless little critters are losing their homes?”

“Tell that to the landlord, ‘cause it’s gonna be us losing our home next. He’s been breathing down my neck about these leaves since the first sign of fall,” Jamie said, stopping for a vape break as I walked past. “You headed up to the school already, Blondie?”

“Someone’s got to be there to show everyone where to set up.”

“Can’t Legolas do it?”

I grinned, knowing there was no use in fighting her on this anymore. “No, Mason won’t be there until later. Will you two be coming by?”

“Doubt it,” Jamie said, leaning on the end of her rake. “FYI—when you get home, there may be, like, eight or nine lesbians in our living room.”

“Um. Thanks for the warning, I guess?”

“It’s a lesbian book club,” Daya explained, dragging her rake across the front walk. I had to admit, our yard was already looking better. “We’re going to read a sapphic romance novel every month and discuss it over beer and a fry-cuterie board.”

“Are there… a lot of sapphic romance novels?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in question.

Jamie shook her head at Daya. “We so need to educate her.” Then she turned to me, holding her vape pen up to her lips. “Anyway, we’re not going to be able to come to your festival. But good luck with all that.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

But it would appear luck was not on my side.

There had been some miscommunication, apparently, about where the carnival ride people were meant to set up. They beat me to the school, too, so they decided to go ahead and set up where they felt best—which just so happened to be exactly where I’d planned for the petting zoo to go. I panicked for a solid ten minutes until I worked everything out—only to get a call from one of the food truck vendors saying they were pulling out. They’d double-booked themselves and decided the other event was more worthy of their time.

More shifting. More adjusting.

By mid-afternoon, many of the volunteers had shown up, which eased my nerves a little since I was able to delegate some of my worries. Together, we raced against the clock to get everything ready. Setting up tables. Showing vendors where to go. Putting out hay bales. Stringing up lights.

All afternoon, volunteers approached me with questions. Some I could answer, some I couldn’t. I felt dread in my stomach every time someone approached me. Even worse than the questions, however, was the way everyone kept handing me things. A roll of tickets here, a package of food-safe gloves there. I was running out of pockets and hands.

Mason arrived at some point, but other than a quick wave from across the lot, we didn’t get a chance to interact. He and Owen were tackling another problem: a bouncy castle that wouldn’t stay inflated.

This thing hadn’t even started yet, and it was already a disaster.

“What’s wrong?”

---