Page 98 of Full Circle

Marla continued to stroke my hair and gently shush me. I had a momentary flashback to just such a moment with Nana, where I was equally gutted and broken, and I had the horrific thought that this was always going to be the state of my life. While I had a childhood full of happiness and love, life came crashing down hard the moment Mama died, and it had never quite gone back.

Maybe that’s what life was all about. Maybe it was just storm after storm, a never ending current of bullshit, including dashed hopes, discarded dreams, and lost love. Or perhaps each person only got a certain quota of happiness in life. With two incredible parents who doted on me, I used mine up before I really had a chance to know what it meant.

That thought only served to make me cry harder. I didn’t think it was physiologically possible at that point.

A new set of arms firmly grabbed me, one arm hooking under my knees and the other tugging on my back. I was lifted like I weighed no more than a plate of grits. My vision was far too blurry to see who held me, but the sudden warmth and overwhelming sense of safety didn’t make it hard to guess.

“I’ve got you, lovebug,” Wes whispered in my hair. “I’ll always get you.”

CHAPTER 47

THE RECKONING

WESLEY

I had no fucking clue what was going on, but when Jesse called me from Marla’s phone, he only got out two words. “It’s Celeste.” I ran back to The Comfy Cushion like the world was on fire.

Seeing her break—really, truly break—in my arms like this was enough to convince myself that she was never leaving them again. Yeah, I was pissed off about Iris. About the time I lost and couldn’t get back. We were gonna have to work through that. But love meant forgiveness, which was a lesson only Celeste taught me. And I could summon a whole lot of forgiveness watching her fall to pieces.

This was beyond anything I’d seen before. I always thought her worst was discovering the extent of her dad’s cancer, but this was a million times worse. Celeste’s body shook so hard that her teeth were chattering. I doubted she was even aware of it, though. The sounds emanating from her mouth were inhuman. Incomprehensible. I gripped her harder, clutching her to me so she didn’t fall out of my arms.

“Her daddy’s truck is parked out back,” Marla said.

One of the strangest things I had learned when I first moved to River’s Run was that people often left their keys in the ignition of their vehicles. Nobody worried about theft in a town where everybody knew everyone. For once, I was grateful for it because I didn’t have to hunt Celeste’s truck keys down when she was unable to give me directions.

We flew to my house. I didn’t want to bother with stop signs and pauses when I already knew there wouldn’t be anyone on the roads anyhow. Once there, I carried her inside and straight up to what had once been Aunt Shirley’s room. My aunt had been confined to the den downstairs for the past several years, so no one had slept in the bed in a long time. All the dust in the room reflected such. It normally would have made Celeste pause to see a room so filthy.

Now, she only continued to wail.

I cradled her in my lap like a child, both arms fiercely pinning her to me. Hot tears were coating my neck and, in an instant, the collar of my shirt was soaked, but I didn’t care. The only way out was through. Celeste needed to let all of the pain out.

It might have been minutes or it might have been hours before Celeste’s crying died down. Her body started to relax against me and I realized she cried herself to sleep. As gently as I could, I settled her against the pillows, only darting out long enough to grab the blankets from the couch downstairs where I had been sleeping. Her face was red and blotchy, her breathing deep and even. She would be out for a while.

Grabbing my phone, I stepped out into the hall to call Marla and find out what was going on. Storming out after our fight earlier wasn’t the right thing to do, I could admit that, but this reaction seemed a bit excessive, and Celeste wasn’t a drama queen. Something else had to have happened.

“Is she okay?” Marla answered on the first ring.

“She cried herself to sleep,” I whispered, glancing back over my shoulder to Celeste’s sleeping form. “What the fuck happened, Marla?”

She sighed heavily, the defeat evidenced in the sound. “Desiree took Iris. And she’s selling The Comfy Cushion to your daddy.”

I was momentarily stunned as I tried to piece together how those ideas were linked. “What do you mean Desiree took Iris?” I demanded angrily. “Where is my daughter?”

Marla’s sharp inhale was piercing. “Celeste told you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “But I think I might have already known.” It was all there, clear as a bell. Iris could have been my twin. The blonde hair, the blue eyes…the fucking attitude.

Lord help us all, I thought.

“Why would Desiree take Iris? That has nothing to do with a business deal,” I continued.

“Because Desiree holds Iris over Celeste’s head like a pawn.” The anger in her voice coiled through the phone and sent a shiver down my spine. “She’s been doing it her whole life.”

“Her whole life…?” I trailed off uncertainly, some of the puzzle pieces starting to fit into place. “But she doesn’t have the right to do that.”

Marla replied, “Of course Desiree does. Iris belongs to her, after all.”

“What? No, she doesn’t. That’s?—”

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