Page 78 of Flying

On a nudge she again resumes her mothering tone with, “Just say yes to all of this so we can get a move on. You want to be first there. Pru’s doing this with her now too.”

Blinking a few times I nod before affirming, “Right, right. Yes. I agree to whatever else you have on there. Did you agree to bathroom breaks and food breaks? That’s my condition.” The three officials laugh.

“What is with you two? Both of you keep questioning this. Do you really think we want to see you covered in your own mess that bad? Text me if you need to go.”

James and Ava Marie head down towards the front of the salon, while Mom takes me by the elbow and leads me out another staircase to the side door.

We enter the dim alley between the salon and Pages. The bookstore door opens and Seth is hauling trash bags towards the shared dumpster.

“Good luck.” He shakes his head and smirks before heading back inside.

Mom gives me a quick hug, hands on my arms and looks at me with her soft fondness that is usually reserved for graduations or big accomplishments.

“River, we have a minute before this kicks off and I wanted to say…” She’s misty eyed. You’d think she was shipping me off to war and not to sit for three hours on my ass in the middle of town.

“River, you’ve really grown into your name. You go with the flow, you come and go as you need and don’t fight anyones nature, choosing to simply wind or bend around obstacles. Don’t bend this time, you’ve stepped up for the bar, for the family, and for me. You don’t want to lose her again.” She squeezes my arms hard, almost shaking me, before adding, “Then don’t.”

“But, how can I be sure?”

“You can’t ever be sure. But come on, it’s not like your dad and I are perfect. We’re not always on the same page. But the one thing we didn’t do was keep the hard things from each other. Frankly, when you do that, you hurt yourself. You’ve been trying to prove yourself by doing it on your own, when asking for help was the biggest sign of your growth.” She musses my hair, brushing it off my forehead.

“Mom.” I swat her hand but my tone is soft.

“Thank you for asking me for help. Anyway,” she waves off her sidepoint, “Belinda and Neal seem to have moved to their beach house temporarily. Between us, I think that’s for the best. I’m trying, but she’s not budging. You’ll need to keep being her advocate, but also her friend, her partner, which means telling her the truth even when it’s hard. It means you’ll need to want to hear the truth too. So, if you are ready to commit to being the kind of man we raised you to be, let’s go.”

She places a hand on my cheek and I realize it’s not off to war, it’s the look I saw Lee’s mom give him when they got engaged. It’s releasing me fully to someone else’s care. The corners of my eyes are misty, and I can’t get my words out so I nod before walking arm in arm with my mom into the sunlight.

Approaching the back of the square across from town hall, we see the two cement pillars sitting four feet tall. There’s a wood plank witha semi-circular cut out sitting close to the ground, while another is held by James and Miss Nicole. I sit down on the cement bench and stretch my legs long until my ankles rest on the lower wooden panel.

From this vantage point, I can see straight to the archway of The Featherweight. The sidewalk—where Lily crashed into me months ago and turned my life upside down—winds its way through the grass before me. To my left is the florist, Seth & Gemma’s businesses in their shared space, and the salon. To the right over my shoulder is Coffee Crumbs and town hall. Then along the side of the park is the library, the fitness studio, and the vet clinic lined up perfectly with the peacock pond and house. Over my left shoulder I can almost see Beagle’s Bagels, Pru’s Tea & Tarot shop, and the butcher shop.

I can see the people pretending to be busy in each, but trying to press against the windows. Looking down at my phone, the clock reads 3:15 p.m., and I see Lily come towards the corner of the salon. Outside, Jim is still in his scrubs from work and Prudence stands by the corner of the park. Holding the tote bag strap on her shoulder for dear life, Lily approaches with Nessa. After the last forty-eight hours, it is hard to not want to run over and hold her close.

She’s wearing a pair of black leggings and a large white T-shirt covered by an open zip up hooded sweatshirt in a deep teal. On her feet are high school logo soccer socks: one purple, the other blue. She’s come out in full force with our town colors, that’s for certain.

Her outfit is completed with a pair of white fashion sneakers. She has her usually large wavy hair pulled into a ponytail through the loop of a baseball cap, dark sunglasses covering those beautiful coffee eyes.

Lily approaches the group and shakes hands with Jim before opening the bag to show Prudence whatever else is along with her. She pulls out a travel mug and I watch as Pru’s smile widens.

Has she noticed yet?I’m watching them closely as they make the short walk my way.

fifty-three

Lily

Tuesday Afternoon

“Let’s get this over with,”I greet Pru, gazing down at my shoes.

“Hand me the crystal please,” she replies. Handing it over, she examines and returns it.

Nessa and I exchange a glance before I nod. “No problem, will do. Just, why?”

Cackling like the witch folks believe her to be, Pru retorts, “For someone who loves Peter Pan, I expected you to understand the magic comes from a little faith and trust. If all else fails, there’s always pixie dust.” She shakes her head in amusement at her own joke.

Through a tight smile, I continue to nod and we make our way further down the road. Stopping in my tracks, I notice a man is already sitting in the second seat, “What the—” cutting myself off I pause. “River?”

He waves toward the second spot. “Nice of you to join me, darling, please have a seat.” He smirks and Nessa looks at me innocently.

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