Page 37 of Forbidden Hearts
She smiles. “Can I come in?”
“Of course, yes. What are you doing here?”
“I brought goodies.” She extends the basket. The smell of freshly baked muffins and cookies fills the room, and my mouth waters.
Oh, I so want these. “Thank you, this was so nice.”
“Well, both of my girls are gone, and I can’t seem to stop baking once school is over. I tend to bring baskets around to everyone.”
“I’m sure the town loves it,” I say, knowing they all must. Mrs. Arrowood always had different treats in school. “How is Bethanne?”
Bethanne was four years behind me in school, and we both were cheerleaders, but I haven’t seen her since I graduated.
“She’s great. She’s in college, doing well and studying accounting, which I never would’ve guessed she’d enjoy. I honestly thought she’d follow her father and join the military. Lord knows she would’ve enjoyed watching my hair turn gray.” We both laugh. “But we all know she never would’ve been able to follow rules, so it’s for the best. Anyway, how are you settling in now that you’re back in town?”
I let out a long breath and lift one shoulder. “You know, it’s Sugarloaf. I love it and hate it all at the same time.”
“Home is a funny place, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
She takes a seat on the couch, and I take the spot next to her. “I struggled for a long time with this place. It holds both good and equally as horrible memories. Connor is the same way, but we could never bring ourselves to leave either. It’s not the town that makes a home, though, it’s the people and what we go through that brings us somewhere—like back home.” Her smile is warm, and I swear this woman can read my mind.
I may not have a mother anymore, but Mrs. Arrowood is sort of everyone’s mom, and I find myself desperate to tell her about what happened.
“Mrs. A?”
“Please call me Ellie. You’ve been out of school a long time.”
That’s never going to happen. “Mrs. A, can I tell you something that I need to stay between us?”
“Of course, Phoebe. I would never betray your trust.”
And I know she wouldn’t. “I don’t have my mom anymore, and I can’t talk to my dad. My best friend is unhinged with her advice, and . . . I don’t know.”
Ellie reaches forward, her hand resting on mine. “You can tell me anything, Phoebe. I do my best not to judge others since I have my fair share of mistakes.”
“You always were my favorite.”
She leans in. “You were mine too.”
I laugh and then exhale. “Okay, so my life is a mess. I came home early from school because I was stupid and got caught being stupid. It was just so much.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No, not like that. Nothing that I can’t get out of, but I feel like I don’t know who I am right now. It’s like all the things the town said about how immature and stupid I was, became that in some ways.”
Mrs. Arrowood scoffs. “Don’t be ridiculous, Phoebe. You’re not who anyone proclaims you to be. You’re who you are, and no one makes the right choice every time. It’s not possible. If it were, we wouldn’t have that saying about hindsight. You aren’t the mistakes you make—you are how you respond to those.”
I let that sink in, my chest tight as I think about how I handled it. I ran, but I don’t feel like it was running so much as self-preservation. The post was so bad. It was so mortifying to find out that I wasthatgirl. I was holding him, leaning in to kiss him like I’d done a hundred times before, and right next to that picture, there was a picture of him and his wife and son. Oh, God, I could throw up just thinking about it.
I read every single one.
Some I’ve memorized.
All I wish I could forget.
“And what if I make more mistakes?” Like this feeling I have with Asher.
