Page 108 of Ever With Me

“You’re going to do great,” Sam said with an encouraging smile. “You always do.”

Maddie nodded distractedly. As Sam turned to go, Maddie said, “Hey, Sam?—”

Sam turned back and waited.

Maddie drew closer to her. “I know this is super random, but . . . do you ever regret coming back to Brandywood? Or miss New York?”

A faint look of surprise lit Sam’s eyes. Then understanding.

“I don’t regret coming back. Brandywood is home now—for real—and I’m happy here.” She stepped a little closer. “But do I miss New York? Yeah, I do. I didn’t leave New York because I didn’t love it. Living there was fun. Exciting. I had a life that checked all the boxes for my career as a photographer. Giving that up wasn’t easy; but it forced me to be creative in other ways that I might not have allowed myself to if I’d stayed there.”

Her pulse quickened.

She’d never really allowed herself to go down this line of thought too much. Like Sam said, Brandywood was home.

“It’s a hard decision to make,” Sam said softly. “In my case, I didn’t have the same relationship with my family that you do. But I regret the time I lost with them. Especially after my mom died.”

Maddie blinked, feeling strangely exposed. “Yeah, I just . . . wonder, sometimes. It was easy not to let myself think of anywhere else because of that. And anyway, I have the Depot to run.”

Sam pursed her lips and hugged the clipboard to her chest. After a beat, she leaned closer still. “If I can give you any advice, Maddie, it’s this. If you’re not happy with who you are when you’re home, you won’t be happy with who you are away from it. That doesn’t mean you can’t leave. It just means you’ll need to find your peace somewhere along the journey.”

Why am I even thinking about this? I love Brandywood. It’s my home.

She didn’t really want to leave . . . did she?

Applause punctured her thoughts. Time to go.

Her gut churned. She’d sung in front of people from town dozens of times. It wasn’t her most comfortable place, but she’d do it for the fun of it. But somehow, today wasn’t fun.

She’d chosen “Wildfire”because she’d been listening to it so much the past week that she was certain she knew the lyrics by heart.

But if Brooks is there . . .especially given she’d chosen one of his songs. ..would he walk off mumbling about amateur hour?

No, Maddie. Just get this done so you can leave.

She wouldn’t think about the possibility of him hearing her, or that everyone in town knew she’d been hanging out with him.

Whatever. I can only go up from today’s lovely apple auction.Or the apple picking. Or the orchard incident with Brooks. In fact, the whole day had been one embarrassing episode after another.

She headed up onto the stage, blinking in the blinding light. The lone spotlight was operated from behind the chairs set up in front of the stage, beside the sound booth.

Her pulse went faster.

This is stupid.

Why did I say I would do this?

Yet she had done it so many times before. Most of these people had heard her sing.

But usually the town wasn’t mad at her, with the Stricklands gunning against her.

Then again, she was from this town, too. She knew how to charm them. How to get people back on her side.

She grabbed the mic, thankful that she couldn’t see the audience because of the spotlight. “Hey, Brandywood. Everyone having a good night?”

A few tepid cheers sounded, including a familiar whoop from Jake.At least I know he’s here for me.

Time to be vulnerable. She hadn’t practiced saying anything, so she didn’t know what to say, but these wereher people.They also knew an apology when they heard one. And like it or not for Josh and Gina, the town also knew what had happened with that relationship. Maybe Brooks had offended Fred Strickland, but she’d been hurt first.

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