Page 166 of As They Are
Jade Clark: How do we all live here every day and not know who maintains it? The town can’t be outsourcing that.
Tammy Jane: Huh. You’re right. Weird.
Henry Connor: Ah. Well, if you guys want to know, I can tell you who it is.
Jade Clark:!!! HENRY TELL US
Henry Connor: Me. I take care of it.
Kerry Winsor: WHAT? All by yourself?
Henry Connor: I want the town to feel beautiful.
Kerry Winsor: I do too! We should start a committee!
“Finally,I can use this cookbook Mom got me,” I said as I grabbed a massive tome from one of the bookshelves. “They usually only have recipes for multiple people.”
“I can eat for multiple people,” Wren said. “What were you thinking?”
He flipped through it. “She always tells me there’s a good pancake recipe in this book.”
“Like homemade?” she asked. “I’ve never had homemade anything before I came here.”
I paused and looked up at her. “Really?”
She shrugged. “My dad was a busy guy, and he did what he could. Most days I wound up eating McDonalds.”
“And I’m guessing your mom didn’t cook either?”
She winced. “She knew how to, but she didn’t really cook for me the rare times I saw her. Then she decided to be done with me, and I have no idea what she does these days.”
Wren said it like a fact, but her turned-down eyes said it was anything but that.
“Decided to be done with you?” I asked slowly.
“Yeah. She ghosted me.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Kinda like a guy does to a girl, except she was the person who birthed me. How lucky am I?”
Far too much fell into place. Why she stayed so busy with work. Why she never mentioned family. And why she’d been upset at the baby shower.
“Is that what you didn’t want to tell me before?”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat, obviously trying to push away the emotions. “I try not to talk about it. Mostly because it’sso sad. Mollie knew my mom wasn’t great, but even she didn’t know that she disappeared. I’m trying to get better about it.”
I was tempted to ask why her mom had done what she had, but there was no appropriate reason. None at all. Wren was incredible. Kind, smart, and strong. And even if she wasn’t always this way, even if she was flawed as so many people were, it didn’t matter.
No one deserved to be abandoned.
I took a step toward her. “Wren?—”
“Don’t pity me.” She held up her hand, eyes on her feet. “The situation sucks, but I can’t do pity. I wanna still be the Wren you know, not the woman who was left behind.”
“You’re still the woman I know,” I said as I grabbed her hand. “And I don’t pity you. I just know more now. Part of this dating thing means I’m here for you when you’re bashing things in and building them from nothing, but also when you’re feeling sad when someone did something terrible.”
“I think that’s what Tammy wants to do too. It’s weird to be supported.”
“It won’t be for long,” I tugged her close to me and pressed my lips to her forehead.
“Thank you,” she said. “You’re the best fake-to-real boyfriend a gal can ask for. Though, Iwilldrop you down a level if we don’t start on these pancakes soon.”
