Page 79 of Love Me Steadfast
William parks next to their silver Ford, and I leap out and race around so I can hug Wren.
“Oof,” she says as I squeeze her. “Careful or you might get a peek at my breakfast.”
I laugh. “You guys didn’t have to come.”
She rubs my back. “We wanted to. Now put us to work.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
CHARLOTTE (NOW)
By afternoon,Will and I have loaded the dingy mattress and the rest of the junk from the house into his truck bed, then cleaned the upstairs.
Wren, Denny, and Henry took care of all the barn chores and even though I told them they’d done enough, they made a plan with Gus to help feed and muck stalls on their afternoons off this week. Denny even coaxed a farrier he trusts to come by when he’ll be here.
Sofie and Linnea showed up at lunchtime with sandwiches for everyone and pitched in getting the yard cleaned up and fixing the gate, and Barb cleaned the entire main level of the house. Will split off to fix the loose boards in the porch steps and put in a new railing while keeping Ollie entertained with endless games of fetch. I tackle scraping off the rest of the torn wallpaper on the stairs and measuring the windows for new blinds.
Accepting my friends’ help was harder than I thought. Maybe because I feel guilty. I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch. I just thought it would be better for everyone if they forgot about me.
But they came. And I feel…full…but lighter. The weight on my shoulders a little more bearable. And I feel warm inside, even though I’m exhausted from such a full day.
I need to find a way to thank all of them, but everything I think up feels lame.
“How’s that toothache?” Wren asks as we’re carrying the last of the old stable pads to William’s truck.
“Better,” I lie.
She and William exchange a glance.
Linnea hands me a cell phone. “I found it below the bedroom window.”
I slide my thumb up the screen. It’s a picture of Theo, Morgan and me at Lookout Pass, the wind in our hair. It was taken the day of Mo’s high school graduation. She’s decked out in her cap and gown, her dark hair in soft curls and her eyes so bright. Even after the year I’d endured grappling with what had happened, in that moment, I was happy because Morgan had accomplished something so big, and we were together. Dad snapped pictures of us, joking with us to “take another step back,” making us laugh.
“Thanks,” I tell Linnea through an unexpected lump in my throat. Two months after that photo, I was on the receiving end of Morgan’s distress call while hurrying to my car so I could get to her. So I could provide her the support I didn’t have.
On the drive back to William’s, the cool breeze coming in our open windows blends with the soft music from the radio, filling the silence that stretches between us. I’m grateful, because if I start talking, I don’t trust myself to hold it together.
Back at the house, William offers to shower upstairs so we can both get ready for dinner at Zach’s. I stay too long under the hot water, my churning thoughts refusing to settle. Then I stare at my clothes, hating all my choices. Everything is drab. Even though the memory is so old and so stupid, Tori Crenshaw’s favorite insult rattles through my mind.Grubby little band geek.
Did I purposefully leave behind clothes that make me feel good about myself?
I brought a dark jeans skirt with embroidered flowers at the hem, thinking I might like something nice to wear if Wren and I went out together. Wearing it tonight feels like a step in the wrong direction.
I decide on my vintage olive green V-neck sweater. It’s too serious-looking but it’s soft and goes okay with jeans. But when I pull on my only clean pair, the thin fabric across my right knee splits seam to seam. I groan. Not that I worry ripped jeans would be a big deal tonight, but they pinch when I move.
With a huff, I yank them off and stare at the skirt discarded on the bed.No funny business tonight, you hear me?I tug it on and button it.
When I finally step into the hallway, Theo’s come downstairs. Ollie is passed out on her bed by the woodstove but blinks her eyes open when my clogs tap the floorboards. Then she yawns with a squeak and nods off again.
“How’d it go?” Theo asks from where he’s packing up what looks like fixings for a giant salad into a grocery bag.
I use the reflection in the window at the sink to free a lock of hair that’s tangled in my beaded earring. “Did you hear about all the help? We tackled almost everything on the list.”
“That’s great,” Theo replies just as William comes out of the laundry room behind him with a basket of clothes. He’s dressed in those Levi’s and a dark blue henley with the sleeves pulled up, giving me an eyeful of his tanned, muscular forearms. His dark lashes look almost wet against his tanned cheeks, framing those dangerous blue eyes.
HIs gaze sweeps up my body then locks on my face, his expression turning tense with an unmistakable look of desire.
Heat prickles my cheeks. Shit. It’s the skirt. I knew it was too much.
