Page 200 of As They Are
Both of their eyes widened.
“But you said you were excited to work on it.”
“I was ... a while ago. But today I went to see a house that I could have easily turned into something different. But they didn’t want that ... and neither did I. I thought I could fix something and feel like myself. Now I just wanna be home.”
“Sounds like you did the right thing,” Henry said softly. “And we’ll get you home.”
“And to be clear, you’re stuck with us.” Tammy pointed at me. “If you run off again, wewillfind you.”
“I think I’ve learned my lesson.” And I had. I’d left to try to protect myself, but I didn’t need protection. I had everything I needed back in Strawberry Springs.
Backhome.
37
HENRY
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Kelsey Rose: Who tattled on me buying beer last night to my mom? I’m NEARLY THIRTY! I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!
Comments:
Tammy Jane: You bought the worst beer known to man. It was a public service for someone to tell me!
Kelsey Rose: You’re driving to Nashville. WHY ARE YOU ON YOUR PHONE?
Tammy Jane: Ever heard of stopping for gas?
Kerry Winsor: Is she really that old? It feels like yesterday she was trying cheerleading and broke her arm.
Kelsey Rose: WHY would you bring that up? Everyone had forgotten.
Tammy Jane: Sorry, kid. No one forgets things here.
Wren wasquiet on the drive to Strawberry Springs. I’d ridden with her in the truck to make sure she wasn’t alone while Tammy took her car. We’d pulled into the diner three hours later in order to finish all of our conversations. Now that she was back, so was my rational thought.
I had alotof people to apologize to. A lot of people who I’d have to look in the eye and find some sort of explanation for how I’d acted. Most of the town had seen me lose it both in the diner and in front of the cameras. I didn’t regret standing up for Wren, but I knew there would be consequences for this.
Wren’s hand squeezed mine as she put the truck in park.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m ...”Finewasn’t right. No words were.
“It’s hitting you, isn’t it?” she asked.
She knew me too well. Better than I knew myself, even. I nodded, knowing I couldn’t say much more since Tammy had pulled up next to us and gestured for us to get out.
“You good?” Tammy asked as she looked at me. “I told you two to use the bathroom before we left but did you listen? No.”
“Not that,” Wren said. “It’s?—”
“I’m sorry,” I said as I gathered what courage I had. “I shouldn’t have acted like I did in the diner.”
“You mean when you called Wren’s mom dumb to her face?”
Wren’s eyes went wide, but she didn’t say anything. I knew this was what I had to do. “Yeah. That.”
