Page 46 of Off the Beaten Path

We make our way to the table, where Mom has pulled an extra chair up next to mine. Wren’s eyes connect with mine as she takes in the setup, and she tries for a smile, but it looks forced. I hate how awkward things have been between us since the kiss, how the friendship we’d formed feels snuffed out, just smoke from the flame that used to exist. We still talk at the cabin, although our messages have become entirely focused on the renovations, and she still badgers me constantly, but it feelsdifferent, and I don’t like it.

Wren’s knee bumps against mine under the table, and she quickly scoots it away, but I can still feel the imprint of it.

“So, Wren, how are things going for the auction?” Finley asks, swatting Grey’s hand away as he tries to snatch a roll off her plate.

Some of the tension seems to leave Wren. It’s funny to me, because I’m most uncomfortable when the focus is on me, but Wren seems to breathe easier now that she has something to say.

“It’s good,” Wren answers. “It’s getting a little hectic now that we’re getting into crunch time, but I like being busy.”

“I like being busy too,” June says proudly, grinning up at Wren. Something in my heart softens at the sight.

Wren smiles down at June, her eyes crinkling at the edges. “I hear you have a musical coming up. Are you getting excited?”

The smile melts off June’s face, and the sound around the table quiets, everyone freezing. Wren stiffens at the change, and I can practically feel her panic.

“I don’t want to do the musical anymore,” June says.

Dread and guilt sour in my stomach. It feels like a sucker punch to the gut, and if there was anything I could do to make that sadness lingering in my daughter’s eyes disappear, I would move heaven and earth to do it.

Wren glances up at me, and I can see the same look in her eyes, even though she doesn’t know the situation.

Clearing my throat, I say, “June was really excited for her mom to come to the musical, but she had to cancel at the last minute.”

Mom makes a noise, and I don’t have to look to know her jaw is set, angry tears forming in her eyes.

Wren turns to June, gaze soft, and reaches across me to give her hand a squeeze, her arm brushing against my stomach. The sight of June’s tiny, tanned hand wrapped in Wren’s pale, freckled one makes my heart pinch painfully.

“I’m sorry, June Bug,” Wren says. The nickname coming from her does something to me, making my chest constrict further. “I bet you’re still going to be the best person on the stage.”

“Maybe,” June mumbles, her bottom lip stuck out in a pout, fat tears clinging to her lashes.

Wren’s hand tightens on June’s before she lets go. “I know so. You want to know why?”

June looks up at Wren, eyes wide. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to be the only one with someone cheering for you from all the way across the world.”

The tension inside of me pops like a balloon at June’s smile, a quick, wide thing that feels like watching a shooting star streak across the night sky. Wren smiles too, that one that’s been missing all week. Seeing the two of them like this makes me soft and warm all over.

I give Wren a grateful look as she sits back in her seat, returning to her meal. She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but it’s not to me. To me, it means June might not cry herself to sleep again tonight. To me, it means my little girl might once more be excited about the musical she’s been counting down to for weeks. To me, it means June is happy.

And anyone who makes June happy is someone I want around.

“How you feeling, June Bug?” I ask as we turn into the school parking lot. It’s already starting to fill up, and the musical doesn’t even start for another hour and a half.

June meets my eyes in the rearview mirror, a wide smile on her face. Since family dinner with Wren at Mom’s house last weekend, which became much more relaxed after Wren’s pep talk to June, my little girl hasn’t cried once about Mia not being able to come. She even told Olivia all about how her mom was going to be watching her from all the way in Paris. Mia never confirmed to video call to watch the musical, but I plan to record it for her anyway.

“I’m excited,” June says, practically bouncing in her booster seat. Her hair is a mess, and I’m hoping one of the volunteers for the dress rehearsal will be able to convince her to let them deal with it, because I had no luck.

After shutting the engine off, I say, “Good. You’re going to be my favorite one up there tonight. I’ve got a present for you.”

June lights up like a Christmas tree. “Really?”

I nod and tell her to hold on before climbing out of the truck and opening her door. She’s already got her seat belt off, shimmying in her seat, and I can’t help but laugh. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a beaded bracelet tiny enough to fit on her little wrist. After she went to bed last night, I cracked open her bracelet-making kit and put this one together.

June sounds out the words. “Across the world.” Her eyes meet mine, bright in the darkened interior of the cab, only lit up by the golden streetlights in the parking lot.

“You’ve got people rooting for you all across the world tonight, June Bug,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t understand what the catch in my voice means. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank Wren for the mantra she’s given June Bug and me. Realistically, I know Mia probably doesn’t even remember what’s going on with her daughter tonight, but June doesn’t need to know that. All she needs to know right now is that she’s got people all across the world who love her.

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