Page 87 of Sweatpants & Sweet Tea

Since coming home from the hospital, Aunt Rhonda had semi-retired and allowed me to step in and take the reins. She loved working in her garden and had developed quite the social life. As of now, she had four men courting her, and she was loving every second of the attention.

I was loving every second of my new role in the company. I never knew how satisfying it would be to run my own business. A real business, not scrunchies or a makeshift nail salon. This was my family business, and not to toot my own horn, but toot toot—I thrived at running it.

My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out and found a text from Nadia. It was a link to a Deadline article.

Happy TrailHottie Miles Ford to Star inFallen Hero: Based on the True Story of Marine Sergeant Austin James

Oh boy. It looked like Kale didn’t get the part. Miles Ford, whose fame had sparked when he starred in the teen drama series that was hailed partDawson’s CreekpartYellowstonecalled Happy Trail, was Kale’s biggest rival. I’d never tell Kale this, but I’d always thought that Miles was better-looking and a better actor. Miles had superstar quality. He had that ‘it’ factor that Brad Pitt, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Charlie Hunnam, Ryan Gosling, and Michael B. Jordan have.

The article said that this role was slated to be Miles's breakout performance as he transitioned from teen heartthrob to leading man.

Word around Firefly Island was that production had already pulled permits, and they were going to be filming in the upcoming months; I had to admit I was relieved. It’s not that Kale was my ex or anything, and I had told Harlan about him. Still, it would’ve been weird.

But my relief was short-lived and selfish. Zoe would be devastated. She had been against the making of this film since its inception.

I quickly messaged Nadia back.

Me:Is Zoe okay?

As soon as I sent it, bubbles appeared, and then, seconds later, a message came through.

Nadia:She’s working a double at the hospital today, but we definitely need to have a girls’ night on her first night off.

I ‘liked’ Nadia’s message. This production was not going to be easy for Zoe, and I was glad that I was here and not back in California so I could support her. Another message appeared. Itwas a group text from Ashley to Nadia and me with the link to the article.

Ashley:Did you guys see this? Girls’ night?

As I stared at my phone, my heart swelled with appreciation even as it broke for Zoe. It meant so much to me to have a true tribe of women who supported each other.

I felt a little guilty that everything in my life was better than I could ever imagine. I’d heard the term spoilt with riches before, but I’d never expected that would be a phrase to describe my life. Not only did I love my new role in Moore Farm Moonshine Sweet Tea, I also loved that I had friends, real friends. Nadia, Ashley, and Zoe were the sisters I’d always wanted and never had.

And they were just the icing on the cake. The cake being Harlan. Over the past four months, we’d settled into life together. He was building a booming Farm Strong empire. He ran his classes in the morning and worked on the farm in the afternoon. I came next door and worked with Aunt Rhonda during the day, then in the evening, there was Harlan’s softball league, hanging out at Southern Comfort, helping out at the stand on the pier, or just cuddling on the couch together bingeing shows.

On the weekends, AJ had baseball games, and I had brunches with the girls at Dreamy Bean. We went shopping in Savannah and got our nails done.

For the first time in my life, I was content. More than content, I was truly happy. I was living my life for me, doing things that were fun, and everything had fallen into place. Even though we’d only been together a few months, Harlan and I were already talking about getting married and having babies. He’d said that he didn’t care if we had children or not, which I appreciated, but being here, being settled, had started my biological clock ticking.

I’d spent a lot of time over the past few months wondering if it was just a passing phase, but I think the truth was I was always scared I wouldn’t be enough. Since I didn’t grow up with an example of a loving home, I had a core belief that I’d never be able to give that to a child. But after talking to Zoe, who had been a single mom for a decade, and Ashley’s sister Skylar, who was a single mom before she met Hank Comfort, I realized that it takes a village, and I’d never had a village before.

Now I did. Firefly Island was my village.

“Achoo!” Aunt Rhonda sneezed loudly from the kitchen, her face explosion echoing through the entire house.

I jumped off the dining room chair and rushed into the kitchen, where Aunt Rhonda was warming up split pea ham soup for lunch. When I entered the sunny space, I saw a tiny white furball curled up in the breakfast nook.

“How did she get in here?” I asked as I rushed over and scooped her up.

This was Dini’s first and only escape since I’d moved in with Harlan. The first week I’d lived next door, I was doing laundry in the basement and I’d discovered that there was a tiny space where Dini was sneaking out.

“I don’t know.” Aunt Rhonda sneezed once more.

“I’ll get her home.”

Dini curled into my arms as I cradled her to my chest. “How did you escape, you sneaky girl?” I asked as I made my way across the field.

There was clearly another route she was taking, and I planned on investigating immediately. Not only for the sake of Aunt Rhonda but for Dini’s safety, too. There were snakes, coyotes, and other predators around that could eat her alive. Literally.

When I walked up the front steps to our house, I opened the screen and tried to open the front door, but it was locked. I tried again, but it didn’t open.

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