Page 30 of Barbed Wire Fences
She eases back just enough to study me, her piercing blue eyes locked on mine with a seriousness that makes it feel like she’s seeing every wound I’ve tried to keep hidden.
“You look amazing, Jael,” she says softly.
“Do I? Because I feel like shit.”
Her hands squeeze my arms, grounding me in that easy, affectionate way of hers. “Not even close.”
“What is it about being back in this town?” My voice comes out rawer than I mean it to. I don’t even have to elaborate though, she knows exactly what I mean.
She wipes at my damp cheeks with a tenderness that undoes me all over again. “It has a way of softening you. Showing you the things you were trying to outrun that maybe you shouldn’t have. Reminding you that there’s still healing left to be found here with the people that have always had your back.”
Damn her. She’s only a year older than me, but it feels like she’s peering straight into the wounded parts of me that I’ve worked the hardest to keep locked away.
I swipe quickly at my cheeks, trying to pull myself together, because the last thing I need is to fall apart in the middle of Lark and Lainey’s kitchen.
“You’re practically glowing,” I manage. She looks radiant. Her curves have filled out beautifully, her blue eyes seem brighter than ever, and her hair has a nice shine to it. She somehow looks perfectly put together and confident in her skin.
She smiles. “Thank you.”
“Where’s Colt?” I ask, needing to redirect the conversation away from myself. Something tells me that while Lainey carried the conversation earlier, Molly’s going to want to talk about me.
She smiles, thankfully letting my emotional moment slide without a question. “He’s volunteering at the Boys and Girls club. I usually go with him but when Rhett told me you were coming for game night, I knew I had to be here to catch up. He’s taking Colt Junior, so I know the kids won’t be disappointed I’m not there. They love when he comes along with us.”
“Is that something you do often?”
She nods. “Yeah! You should come with us some time. It started out as part of Colt’s parole requirements, but he really connected with one of the littles there and we’ve been going together to play games with her and eat pizza ever since then.”
I smile because that sounds like something Colt and Molly would do. “You know, that sounds really nice.”
She grins as I move towards Lainey’s fridge to grab another drink. “Do you want one?”
Molly shakes her head, her grin widening. “I’m not drinking right now.”
“Oh… are you driving?”
She laughs, shaking her head again. “No… It’s early, and we haven’t told anyone yet, but Colt and I are having another baby.”
The bottle slips from my fingers, clinking loudly onto the countertop as my jaw falls open. “Oh my God, Molly… that’s—” I pause, my voice pitching higher with excitement. “That’s freaking incredible!” I throw my arms around her again, hugging her tightly as she laughs, nodding against my shoulder.
Though Rhett and I were closer growing up, and she was dealing with her own storms, I always looked up to Molly as a role model for someone whomade it.High school brought us closer—two girls who understood each other’s unspoken pain without ever needing to say it aloud, and when she graduated and skipped town, the trailer park felt even lonelier. We carried a lot more than backpacks back then, and somehow, that bond has never faded.
“Another baby…” I whisper, stepping back to look at her again, the words catching in my throat. “I’m so happy you have a family.”
Her smile softens, and she nods, tears sparkling in her own eyes now because she knows what I’m saying. “Of my own,” she says quietly. I heard about Maverick, but I know the loss of her brother is still fresh. I can’t imagine how much that must have hurt her. “We’re really excited.”
“You deserve this,” I say. And that’s it—that’s what sends my tears spilling over again.
Because anyone who’s clawed their way out of family trauma and abuse knows what a blessing it is to build something whole. To create a new chapter, one where love replaces fear, and hope outshines hurt. She’s not just having another baby, she’s reparenting herself in the most beautiful way possible, and my heart aches with how much I love this for her. For all of us who’ve ever dreamed of breaking the cycle and treating our own kids differently.
“I’m so happy for you,” I whisper again, my words catching as she nods and laughs into my shoulder.
Her joy seeps right into me, and before I know it, my throat is tight, and my eyes are stinging. For all the friendships I made in Virginia, for all the people I spent years around, I’m realizing that nothing ever felt like this. Hugging Molly, crying with her over her pregnancy, I’m reminded of how rare and irreplaceable this bond is.
Those friendships were good, but they were surface level compared to the way that this one sinks all the way down to my bones.
“Thank you,” she says, pulling back before looping an arm through mine just as Lainey comes back downstairs. “Now let’s go catch up. I want to hear all about what you’ve been up to the past ten years.”
Chapter 11 - Jael
