Page 67 of Solitude

I find the courage to manage a wave and watery smile before making the trek to town.

Usually the walk doesn’t bother me, but today it feels never ending. My feet hurt. My back feels brittle. I’ve had two leg cramps, and somewhere between the Fletcher’s driveway and the halfway point to town, I started crying again.

Pitiful.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and when Beck’s name pops up on the screen, I ignore it for the first time ever.

Guilt settles in my stomach.

Or maybe it’s the new life I’m growing that’s making me feel the need to hurl, but I’m pretty sure it’s the guilt and nerves.

Pulling open the door to Sugar, I inhale deeply as the cool air rushes over me and the scent of vanilla fills my nostrils. Sugar has always been a comforting place for me. The smells,the sounds, the people. I’ve always felt at peace whenever I’m here, and today is no different.

The tension begins to drain from my shoulders, the air puffing out of my lungs in exhaustion, and I swallow down all of the emotions rumbling underneath my skin, ignoring them for the first time that morning to just stand there in peace for a minute.

It doesn’t last long. Gwen pops her head out of the back and rushes me, arms around my neck and tugging me into her petite frame in a matter of seconds, and I sink into her embrace. My arms slide around her waist as I bury my head in her shoulder, tears rising to my eyes once again.

“Why am I crying again!” I mumble frustratedly into her shirt.

Gwen sighs and pets my hair. “Win. It’s okay.”

“I-I…” I stutter, unable to catch my breath. “I don’t know—what—to do. B-beck?—”

“Beckwill be fine,” Gwen cuts me off, pulling back to hold my face in both of her hands. “Beck is the least of your problems right now, Win. He loves you.”

I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks as I stare at her. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

“Oh, god.” She winces. “You’re leaving me, aren’t you? You’re going to Texas?”

I chuckle wetly. “No. The Hollow is my home.”

“Okay, then it can’t be that bad.”

Here goes nothing. “We got married.”

“What.”

“Beck and I… We’re married.”

Gwen stares at me. Blinks twice. “What?”

The laugh that falls out of me is a bit delirious. “We eloped. In April.”

“April.” Gwen says it slowly, like she can only form one or two words at a time and still isn’t understanding. I’ve never made Gwen Rigby speechless before. “Wait. When you went to see him?”

“Yes.”

Gwen drops her hands and steps back. An incredulous, equally as delirious as my own, laugh bursts from her lips, and before I know it, she’s laughing so hard she’s doubled over, eyes wet as she falls back onto one of the stools.

“It’s not that funny…” I mumble.

Gwen struggles to catch her breath. “Oh. It isthatfunny. Because what do you meanmarried! Winnie, you’re nineteen! You’ve been with Beck for a few months at best!”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t need a lecture.”

“Clearly you do.” Gwen plants an arm on the table and leans her head into her hand, rubbing frustratedly at her forehead. “Married, Winnie? Seriously?”

Scraping my teeth over my bottom lip, I nod. “Yes. Beck and I are legally married.”

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