Page 194 of As They Are
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She jabbed her finger toward the woman’s face. “And you heard Henry too. I don’t open my doors for lowlifes, and I never will.”
“You know nothing about?—”
“And none of us care to,” I interrupted. “You may think you have some reason to do what you did, but it’ll never be enough to justify all the shit you’ve put Wren through. You got to her once, but you’ll never fucking do it again. Not while I’m around.”
“Or me,” Tammy added, arms folded tightly across her chest. “You wasted your chance with that girl and broke her soul. And now I hear you did it again?Here?You can take your little attitude, get out of my diner and our town, and go straight to hell.”
“I never—” Wren’s mom stood and nearly ran for the door.
“And you’ll never again, because you sure ain’t coming back here!” Tammy yelled as she left. “What a stupid fucking cu?—”
“Don’t say something you’ll regret,” I said. “Though I agree.”
“You’re not following your own rule.” Tammy crossed her arms. “Why can’t I call her what she is?”
“I’m ...” The heat of the anger faded now that Wren’s mother was gone. Had I really just cursed her out in front of Tammy?Fuck.
“Hang on, Doc.” Tammy’s hand landed on my shoulder. “We can’t all have meltdowns right now. Someone has to go get Wren.”
She was right. Ineededher back. Ineededher to know her mother was full of shit.
Everything else would have to be fixed later.
“Did you see Wren last night?”
“I did, but I was so excited that Kelsey was back that I didn’t notice she was upset. Well, I did, but then she ran out before I could ask anything. I thought maybe it had been a long day for filming until I saw the Facebook group. When she didn’t answer,I figured she was with you. Guess I should have hunted her down anyway. Dammit!”
“Mom?” a voice from behind Tammy asked. “What’s going on?”
I turned to see a woman with brown hair and blue tips staring at us. I’d never met her before, but I knew of her through Tammy.
If Kelsey was back, then there was another reason Wren was upset. Tammy hadn’t kept it a secret that Wren reminded her of Kelsey. If her daughter was back, then Wren wouldn’t have wanted to overstep.
“Wren left,” Tammy said.
Kelsey’s eyes grew round. “What? But I just got here! The whole reason I came back was because I wanted to meet her.”
“I have a feeling Wren didn’t see it that way,” I said. “I’m Henry, by the way.”
“Her boyfriend?”
“Yep.”
“How would she have seen it?” Tammy asked.
“Like you wouldn’t have time for her.”
“Fuck,” Tammy groaned. “That’s not ... I would never! Have you called her?”
“She’s not answering her phone.”
“Then we go to her.”
“I don’t know where she lives in Nashville.”
“Doesn’t she have a best friend?” Kelsey asked. “You said her name was Mollie, right? We can call her and tell her what happened.”
