Page 9 of Feel It All

“I broke up with Flynn last night. We got into a screaming match in the parking lot after he got wasted at Bluebird’s.” I fill her in on all of the details of our argument. I conveniently leave out the part about my extremely sexy neighbor coming to help me.

Ivy stops in the middle of mixing, and with an astonished look on her face says, “My goodness, Win. Are you good?”

“Yeah, I’m good, I actually am. I had a pity party, but I feel better. I knew he was not the one, so it is good that it is over.”

“Well, good. I didn’t like him anyway.” She goes back to mixing.

“Yes, I am aware.”

“Have you told your sisters yet? I have a feeling they will be a mixture of happy and wanting to riot for him yelling at you.”

“I haven’t told them yet; I have not had the energy that that requires.”

“Ha, I am sure. Want to lick the spoon?”

“Obviously. Let’s move on to better topics, like what we are going to do for our one-year anniversary of Crossroads in September.”

“Winry, it is the middle of June. We have a couple months,” she rolls her eyes at me. What can I say? I like to have a plan. “Why don’t we plan something for your birthday first,” she retorts.

Now it is my turn to roll my eyes. I have never enjoyed my birthday. I like to plan but not for my birthday. Something always goes wrong. So far, I have been dumped twice, gotten in a car wreck that resulted in a broken leg, and was literally left at a park at Disneyworld for a couple of hours. “Why don’t we save ourselves the trouble of that monstrosity and pretend it is a normal day and maybe the sky won’t start falling?”

“You are so dramatic. So you have had a few bad birthdays.”

“A few? Ivy, one birthday, my whole party got food poisoning from some shady bakery that Mom found.”

Ivy shudders at the memory, “Yeah that one was pretty bad.”

“Exactly, July 20this better off alone,” I jump down from the counter. “I will stay in my apartment alone like I have for the past few years. I will make cookie dough, drink my wine, read a good book, maybe do some writing, and let the day go on.”

Ivy calls me a party pooper on my way up to the front desk, where Abigal is checking someone out with one of our “blind date with a book” books. I got the idea off TikTok, and it has been doing well. “Thank you; come back and let us know how you like your book.”

“Hey Abigal, I am here if you want to head out early.” I offer.

“Really? That would be great, I have got a test today and I would like to review my notes.”

“Yeah, it is no problem. Good luck on your test.”

The rest of the day goes pretty smoothly. We have been getting more and more regulars coming back, and it is so good to see. Crossroads is right in the middle of town, so we get good foot traffic. The space is perfect for us. We have the books to the right on shelves that my dad made, and we have some tables in front with some specials like the “blind date with a book,” a spicy section, and sales. Then the bakery is set up to the left with the kitchen in the back. For the furniture, Ivy and I ran all over South Carolina thrifting couches, tables, and chairs. It gives off a very hodgepodge boho vibe that is a perfect mixture of me and Ivy.

When our day comes to an end at six, I decide to do a joint call with my sisters to fill them in on what transpired last night on my drive home. I will again leave out Graham’s involvement. They will see right through me and try to push me to get with him. I start calling, and they both answer almost immediately.

“Hey, Win,” Wyla answers.

“What’s up, good looking?” Waverly adds.

“I just wanted to fill y’all in that Flynn is no more.”

“Praise the Lord,” Waverley sings. “Give me the details, honey.”

“Well, we may have got into a small argument in the parking lot at Bluebird’s when he got wasted and tried to drive home. It’s okay though. I ended it, and he took a cab home.” I try to keep it short and simple.

“Oh, gosh, Winry. Why didn’t you call us last night?” Wyla asks, I can hear the concern in her voice.

“I am good, guys, really. I’m not even sad; it needed to end. Do I wish it ended a little more amicably? Yes, but I am just relieved it is over,” and I really was. Last night’s pity party really helped me feel better. Sometimes you just need a good cry. My sisters stay silent for a beat, but then they jump straight into “we hate Flynn” mode. They both hammer out some good curse words to describe Flynn and threats of what they would do if they saw him out in town.

“All right, down girls,” I interrupt their rants. “He is an asshole, but let’s not breakout the voodoo doll yet,” I tease.

“Okay, but now it is time to get you a real man, Win,” Waverley exclaims.

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