Page 65 of All You Need Is Love

Clearly, it wasn’t just her sister’s face that was scarred from the incident. “Oh, Quinn. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

Her sister huffed and forked up all the breakfast meat in one fell swoop. All the slices plopped onto the paper towel in a heap. “Stop being so … nice!” she growled. “Just for once in your life, fight back!”

“I don’t want to fight.” Shannon pushed the bowl aside and crossed her arms, hugging herself. “Don’t you understand? All I’ve wanted is to connect with you. But you won’t let me.”

“How can we possibly connect? We have nothing in common.” Despite the way Quinn’s chin jutted out, her lower lip trembled. Maybe they were finally getting somewhere. “You’re sweet and kind and everything I’m not. Which is fine, because I don’t want to be those things. I can’t.”

“You could if you tried.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “We aren’t all as saintlike as you. Remember Cody Briggs? You liked him and he liked you too.” She pressed a closed fist against the counter, her jaw clenched. “And I set out to steal him from you, even though I didn’t give a flying flip about him.”

Quinn flung the truth across the room like an arrow, and it hit its target as intended. Shannon’s chest ached. “I don’t understand.” The words gurgled in her throat even as fat tears rolled down Shannon’s cheeks. “I could have been an ally, a friend. I know you were hurting, but why did you have to push me away, to hurt me on purpose?”

“Why? Because I could.” She shook her head. “I’m not some puppy you can save, Shannon. There isn’t a lot of hope left for me. And I’m okay with that. I’ve made my bed and now I’m going to lie in it. Just let me lie in peace.”

Turning back to the skillet, Quinn laid out new strips of meat, mask back in place and calm as could be.

Instead of the sympathy Shannon knew she should feel, she couldn’t help wanting to shake her sister’s shoulders. What was wrong with her? Did she truly not think change was possible? But no, she’d clearly given up.

She didn’t want Shannon’s pity? Fine. Maybe she’d respond better to the truth—brutal or not.

“You know what? Forget it.” Shannon threw up her hands. “I can’t make you want to be sisters, to want to be on the same team as me, to want to try to be a good person. But I’m not going to let your bitterness ruin my heart. Even if you don’t care about the blood, the history that we share, I do. I love you and that will never change, but I won’t let your negativity run me down anymore.”

And, despite the fact the pancakes sat unfinished or the way Quinn’s jaw had gone slack at Shannon’s declarations, she spun on her heel and waltzed out of her parents’ house and into the fresh breeze of a new perspective.

Because all this time, she’d thought Quinn’s life was something to be envied. The truth was, no one was perfect, and their lives weren’t either. And there was beauty in that, if people could learn from their mistakes and become better for it.

“What do I have, Ashley? Tell me that. What do I have?”

True, Shannon might always struggle with this question, but if she could clear all the other junk away—all the comparison, all the looking at other people, all the worry over what they thought—then her vision cleared, and she saw very plainly what she had.

People she loved, who loved her back.

A town she’d do anything for.

And a voice.

Yes, Shannon Baker had a voice, and just like Quinn, she could use it for good or for evil. And that was another thing—she had a choice, about how she’d live, about the thoughts she’d allow in. From now on, she’d do whatever necessary to dim the negative voices that told her she wasn’t worth as much as others, that she didn’t have anything to offer, that she needed to be in the spotlight to have value.

Instead, she’d listen to the one voice that mattered. The one that told her she was a beautiful creation.

That she was … enough.

* * *

Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Probably would have left multiple times if Jenna hadn’t held fast to her arm, reminding Shannon she’d done nothing wrong.

But that didn’t stop the whispers, the stares, the questioning looks the people of Walker Beach kept shooting her as she, Jenna, and Jenna’s son, Liam, meandered through the Fireworks Festival crowd. Apparently, word had gotten out about Shannon “going after” her sister’s boyfriend. It must have been the wedding photographer who’d spread the gossip, because Shannon’s family knew the truth.

Patriotic music boomed over the loudspeakers strategically placed along the street. The event committee had closed off the middle section of the Main Street thoroughfare so food and game booths could be set up along the road. Almost every storefront boasted an American flag in its window, and someone had spent countless hours stringing red, white, and blue twinkle lights high above Main Street. They grew brighter as the evening dimmed.

The scents of cotton candy and fresh popcorn wafted from various food stands lining the street. Yet despite her many fond memories of sharing both with her family over the years, the familiar smells churned Shannon’s stomach. The confrontation with Quinn this morning had her whole body on emotional overload—especially given her revelation afterward that had smacked strangely of hope.

A wave of nausea rolled through her as they passed a hot dog vendor. Yep. She definitely should have stayed home, where she could have processed her emotions in the appropriate way—with chocolate and a movie.

“Mom, I see Jared.” Liam pointed toward a booth with two moving mechanical basketball hoops. “Can I go?”

“Sure, bud.” Jenna dug in her purse and pulled out a neon green wallet. “Aunt G and Uncle Tyler are saving us a spot on the beach to watch fireworks. Be there in fifteen minutes or I’m hunting you down.”

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