Page 44 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
Grace glanced at the clock and realized they’d run almost an hour over their designated class time. She was supposed to meet Reed at seven fifteen for dinner.
“Sure. Sorry we ran so late,” she said to Amber. “Give Aubrey a hug for me.”
Amber had gone to Boyer University just outside of New York City, and she’d connected with a group of girls who all shared a love of writing. They’d rented a house where they’d lived like a sorority and had started their own sisterhood called the Ladies Who Write. Aubrey and two other house sisters now owned a multimedia corporation, LWW Enterprises, with offices across the United States—and they had since purchased that sisterhood house to use for LWW retreats. Grace was glad to see Amber put as much effort into her friendships as she did her work.Heaven knows I don’t do that often enough.
“Stay as long as you’d like,” Amber said. “Aubrey’s just passing through, so it’ll be a quick hug.”
As she ducked out of the office, Grace began gathering her papers. “We should wrap up for the day, too. When you have your first few pages ready, we’ll begin critiquing the dialogue.”
“We’re already done writing ActI,” Janie said. “We’ve been getting together for a few hours each day, and these ladies are brilliant.”
“Oh, please!” Hellie said. “We’reallbrilliant. Janie, it’s your expertise that finesses our ideas into magical moments.”
“Wait a sec. You’redonewith ActI?” Grace asked.
“And halfway through ActII,” Janie explained.
“We’ve been working hard while you’ve been playing house with your hunka hunka burning love,” Nana said, and pushed a stack of papers across the table to Grace. “I have to get out of here before Poppi chows down on Ho Hos for supper. You know how much of a sugar fiend that man is.”
“I’d better go, too,” Janie said. “Boyd and I are going out.”
“I have a hot date with my flute.” Lauryn glanced at Phoenix and said, “I’vefinallyconvinced Phoenix to play her banjo at next Friday night’s jam session at the Jerichos.”
Phoenix rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet. Today she sported black-and-silver biker boots, black jeans, and an Aerosmith T-shirt. Her eyeliner was bright blue, and she had a pink feather hanging from a tiny braid on the right side of her head. “She wants me to show my inner hick. But I only agreed because she promised to play her flute.”
“Hey, girlie.” Nana pointed at Phoenix. “You watch your mouth. I’m proud of my inner hick, my outer hick, and everything in between.”
“I’m sorry, Nina,” Phoenix said.
Nana glared at her.
“Nana,” Phoenix corrected herself. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but not everyone’s cut out for small-town life, right, Grace? I mean, just look at Grace’s outfit. She looks like she stepped out of a fashion magazine with that awesome, drapey black shirt and that skirt with the slanted silver zipper pockets. I’dkillfor those black leather heels with silver buckles. I mean, if you pair them with a black leather skirt you’d look all BDSM, but with that tan skirt, it’s totally chic, like you’re going out to a five-star restaurant or something. Nobody dresses like that here. I don’t think anyone would ever think Grace was from around here.”
Grace glanced down at her outfit. It was one of her favorites, and Phoenix was right about the heels. In fact, that’s why she’d bought them, because they could be office chic or nightlife sexy. She suddenly realized that around here the outfit just made her look like she thought a lot of herself. Or like she wanted other people to stop and take notice. The thought made her woozy. That was not who she was, and she hoped other people didn’t see her that way.
“Everyone appreciates different things in life,” Grace finally said with a stab of discomfort, as if she were somehow dissing her family by agreeing. Suddenly she wondered if her family, or the people who knew her, thought she’d been putting her family down all along by trying to run from her roots.
On her way out to her car, she tried to convince herself she was overthinking her appearance and pulled out her phone to text Reed and let him know she was late. There was a message waiting for her.You. Me. Under the stars. Tonight.
That sounded like the perfect night. She sent a quick reply telling him she was running late. She still had a hard time believing that he was in her life again.
As she climbed into her car, she found a single wildflower on the passenger seat. She smelled it, remembering how he used to leave a single flower for her in the funniest places. She’d found them in her cheerleading bag and on the field before a game. Even though he’d never left a note, she’d always known they were from him, even the very first time when she’d come outside before school and found one under the windshield wiper on her car. And when her sisters had found them, she’d turned the situation on them and questioned which of their boyfriends had left them a flower.
On the drive to her parents’ house, her emotions skidded and whirled between thoughts of Reed and stewing over her revelation about how she might have hurt her family’s feelings. By the time she arrived, she’d gotten herself upset about being called out for not looking like she was from Oak Falls, despite the fact that she’d worked hard to achieve exactly that.
Dolly and Reba greeted her at the kitchen door with wagging tails. “Hey, girls,” Grace said as she wound around them toward her mother, who was chopping vegetables. Her hair was pinned up in a ponytail, giving her a youthful appearance.
“Hi, sweetie. Did you see how much Reed got done on the porch? It’s so beautiful. How was your class?”
Grace had been too distraught to notice the porch. “Class was great. I loved it.” She snagged a piece of cucumber and bit into it.
“But…?”
She took another bite and said, “Nobut.”
“Maybe not about the class, but I know you, Grace, and there’s a but hanging in there somewhere trying to get out.”
Grace sighed and leaned against the counter. “Someone said I don’t look like I’m from here.”
