Page 12 of Hometown Girl

“Would you at least hear me out?”

“No, I don’t need to hear anything, because there is no way I am going to be a part of something so ridiculous.” Beth pulled open her car door. “You always do the stupidest things!”

Molly’s face fell. She stood, unmoving, just a few feet away from the car.

Beth dropped her gaze to the ground and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“Yes, you did. I know what you think of me. What all of you think of me. I know Dad never thought I could do anything big and important—he saved all those dreams for you.”

Yeah, and look at me now.

“You’re right,” Molly said. “I’ve done some stupid things. I went to cosmetology school, and I don’t like to touch other people’s heads. I bought that car last year that didn’t have an engine in it. I make decisions based on how I feel.”

Beth glanced at Molly. All this time, she’d assumed her sister didn’t know those things were foolish.

“But you’re the flip side of my coin, Beth. You don’t do anything based on the way you feel. Everything is planned out and calculated, and you never allow yourself to have a single emotion without a checklist of pros and cons.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. That’s why it threw you for such a curveball when your perfectly laid plan fell apart. That was six years ago—and you’re still here, working in Dad’s company, in a job you hate.”

“I don’t hate it.”And I have to stay. I have to make it up to Dad.

“Tell me this is what you always dreamed you would do.”

Beth searched for a reply but came up empty.

Molly softened. “You need a change, and so do I. Fairwind can give it to us.”

Beth shook her head. “I can’t even believe what I’m hearing.”

“Think about it. Remember what it was like here.”

Beth didn’t want to remember. Recalling how it felt to have no worries or no cares—it would make her long for something she’d never have again, and what would be the point of that? She wasn’t a fan of self-imposed torture.

Molly turned away, eyes scanning the forgotten land in front of her.

“I can still remember every time we came here, before we went home, Daddy would make us all head over to that little stand at the edge of the flea market. They had fresh-made kettle corn—”

“And lemon shake-ups,” Beth said. “I remember.”

“What if we could bring that back to Willow Grove? Tourism is still big here. Why shouldn’t we introduce Fairwind to a new generation?”

Beth shut the car door and leaned back against it. A part of her wanted that more than anything—to go down an unexpected path, one she’d never considered before.

Molly stared at her. “Every single day of your life has been exactly the same for at least the last five years. Aren’t you bored?”

Thoughts ran around in Beth’s mind like a toddler with scissors. Dangerous. Chaotic. She didn’t like thinking about change when she was stuck where she was.

“I’ve done something amazing here, Beth, and I’m offering you a chance to get on board. Be a part of this—for us, for this town, for this place. Doesn’t it deserve to be restored?”

Beth drew in a deep breath. “Of course it does. But we’re not equipped to do it. We know nothing about apple orchards or farms or pumpkin patches.”

“But we’re smart. And we learn fast. You know business. And I’m great with people. We can do this. Together.”

Beth looked at her sister’s pleading eyes. Molly was desperate to make a go of this plan. But this was the same sister who only last year had been convinced she wanted to drive a food truck. Never mind that Molly wasn’t a chef. She’d never even worked in food service. She’d gotten so far as to test-drive an old, falling-apart food truck, only to decide—at the very last minute—she didn’t like the way she looked driving such a big vehicle. The next day, she’d gone out and bought her VW Bug, and the food-truck idea went to the place all of Molly’s grand plans went: the idea graveyard.

It would be only a matter of time before she lost interest in Fairwind Farm too, and Beth would be left to pick up the pieces.

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