Page 65 of Steadfast

Thanks for the consideration,

but I won’t need Audrey’s help after all.

Maeve — typing…

I’m happy to hear you’re bursting with confidence,

but this one isn’t up to you.

Gritting her teeth as she read Maeve’s response, she couldn’t help but feel it was a breach of trust. She added it to the growing pile of gripes ebbing away at her frayed patience. Stepping outside, she pulled out her bundle of keys. They clanked around in her hand until she found the one that would secure the shop door.

“I’ve got to stop by the church really quick,” she shouted over the loud drumming of the rain. Paisley and Mia huddled together under the eave of the coffee shop, determinedto stay dry.

“Can I come?” Mia asked. “We’re doing that project together, after all, right?” Her tone was full of uncertainty, and Oakleigh could feel her eyes searching her for clues of just how mad she was after the latest information had come to light.

“Sure,” she responded. She had kept their interactions painfully brief that day, refusing to give Mia even an ounce of closure. She knew it was cruel.

It was a tactic she had learned from her mother.

Paisley got into the driver’s seat of the white ranch truck she had borrowed for the day. The engine idled as she waited for Oakleigh to take the lead down Main Street.

Much to Oakleigh’s annoyance, Mia made a quick sprint through the rain to avoid being soaked by the downpour and climbed into the passenger seat of the G-Wagon.

Without a word, she put the car in reverse, and punched it into drive more aggressively than she intended. They rode in silence through the center of town, which was still packed with tourists despite the miserably slick conditions.

“Oaks, can we talk?” Mia asked, finally breaking the heavy tension between them.

Oakleigh remained silent without even offering a sideways glance. It felt rude, just the way she had intended it to.

She parked next to a pickup truck loaded with construction supplies. Grabbing the white binder from the backseat, she stepped out onto the curb. She couldn’t help but admire the church’s exterior, noting that the new building looked even more quaint and charming than ever.

The passenger door slammed behind her, snapping her back into the unpleasant hostility with Mia.

“Oakleigh, please,” Mia pleaded.

Ignoring her entirely now, Oakleigh lifted the construction tape. She stepped carefully around the stacks of lumber, cans of paint, and piles of tools in the entryway of the building.

Paisley caught up with her, with Mia trailing behind. “You’re going to talk to her, right, Oaks?” Paisley whispered.

“When I’m ready,” Oakleigh tossed the words carelessly at her sister.

“Okay, because—” Paisley stepped in her path, stopping Oakleigh in her tracks and nabbing her full attention, “she’s really upset, like it’s all she talked about this morning. I don’t think it’s right to let it go much longer.”

“And how do you think I feel?” Oakleigh snapped back, shrugging off her sister’s look of surprise. Rarely had they fought over the years, primarily for survival. They had found common ground amidst their toxic family dynamic. Now that Paisley was stepping across her boundaries and seemingly taking sides against her, Oakleigh wondered if they had anything in common at all.

Due to the weather, the construction crew was putting their efforts into the church sanctuary that day and was finally installing the beautiful stained glass. Even on a dreary day when dark clouds blotted out the sun, the light still poured through the large, colorful windows.

Oakleigh spoke to the contractor, clarifying the answers to his questions on the flooring, window coverings, and paint. He patiently jotted every detail down on a little pad of paper.

“Are you keeping up, Mia?” Oakleigh asked, savoring her look of surprise.

“Um—yeah,” Mia stuttered, clearly so lost in her thoughts and stunned by her best friend’s unkindness that she wasn’t tracking.

Oakleigh knew she was being unreasonable. She was making a choice, pushing aside the nagging feeling that reminded her it was wrong. It made her feel powerful and in control to give in to that familiar toxic drive she had set aside for so long.

“Hey Mia, why don’t we go live?” Oakleigh let a contemptuous smile cross her face as she shoved the binder into her friend’s hands and pulled her phone from her pocket.

Mia shot a wide eyed glance to Paisley, who immediately stepped in. She calmly grasped Oakleigh’s arm in futile attempts to de-escalate. “Oaks, let’s just call it for today.”

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