Page 21 of Violet Moon
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”
They fell in step together on the sidewalk, dodging tourists who were likely in Hickorywood for all the hiking and breweries.
“Not as chilly as yesterday.Though I kind of like when I need a coat and a scarf.Makes me feel cozy.”
Jo ate another chocolate, but walked along in silence.
Sera waited before asking, “Hey, is everything alright?”
Jo shrugged.“I get like this sometimes.It’s fine.”
“What do you mean?Did something happen?”
They glanced over at Sera.“Nothing happened.This is just how my brain works.Or doesn’t work, I guess.My meds do a pretty good job of managing everything, but they don’t, like, magically take all the bad parts away.”
Sera realized how little she knew about Jo.In trying to avoid them, she’d neglected to learn about the newest member of their family.Guilt settled in alongside the hurt in her chest.“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It is what it is.”Jo smiled, a weak, small thing.They raised their bag.“Chocolate helps.It doesn’t actually, but for the brief moments I’m ingesting way too much chocolate, I do feel a little better.”
“Does it happen a lot?”
“It comes and goes.Sometimes it’s not so bad, but this episode is really hitting hard.It’s weird ‘cause so far only Wilma has seen me like this.I tend to hide when I feel bad so people don’t see, but I guess now you’re seeing all this mess.”Jo scrunched up their face.“Sorry.”
“Don’t be!We’re a pack, right?”Sera consoled, knowing she hadn’t been the best Beta for Jo lately.
As she thought of her current family, memories slipped free and she tried to remain in the present and not travel back in time to a warm, happy kitchen that made her heart ache.
“And I don’t mind your mess because I’m a mess, too,” Sera continued, puffing out a laugh to cover up what was happening inside.“That’s what packs do.We share everything, the good and the bad.”
“I needed that reminder.Thanks.”Jo smiled, brighter this time.
Sera saw the face of her younger brother, his smile so wide his eyes crinkled in the corners.Waves crashed behind him and he started to run away from her, looking back to make sure she followed.
“You remind me of someone,” she said each word slowly, as though speaking it out loud would break the wall between her past and her present.
“Someone good, I hope.”
“Someone very good.”
Sera fell silent as they approached the bakery.
Jo was speaking, but she was miles away, somewhere in a town she’d forgotten seeing faces she couldn’t keep locked away no matter how hard she tried.
“Beta?”
Sera’s vision tunneled as she came back into herself.“Sorry, my mind was wandering.”
Jo cracked a grin.“I get that.Thanks for walking with me.I feel a little less like a pile of burning garbage.”They laughed and gestured towards Violet Moon as they got closer.“I’m going to go say hey to Wil.You want to come?”
“Sure,” she replied, welcoming the distraction.“I’d like that.I wanted to ask her about the new piece I saw in the bakery today.It’s gorgeous.”
Talking to her pack wasn’t a distraction.It was a tether.Being around the other members of her pack family was what kept her grounded.Even with Jo around, that connection was what she needed more than anything.
She opened her bag and popped another chocolate into her mouth.
She was going to learn to bake.She was going to be a better Beta.Getting to know Jo was going to have to be a part of that, but Sera decided she could take as much time as she needed.
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