Page 49 of Taken to the Deadlands

I waited beside the stall while Agnus paid. When that was done, she looked at me, then turned back to Mags.

“Come visit Mia if you get a chance,” she said. “I’m sure she can give you some answers about what’s happening.”

My jaw dropped.

“Agnus, you don’t have to?—”

“Shush now,” she said and pulled me down the street. “She needs it more than most. Her husband divorced her and had been whispering some hateful things to her kid. They don’t talk much anymore, and since her mom passed, she barely sees her.”

I sent her a look.

“Must be difficult.”

She nodded.

“Some people like her just need some… comfort,” she explained. “Her mother was always against the marriage butlovedSofie, her daughter. They would visit her old house every Sunday after the farmers’ market, but after she died they had to sell?—”

“I didn’t take you for much of a gossip, Agnus,” I teased and threaded my arm in hers.

She threw her head back and let out a loud laugh, drawing some of the patrons’ eyes.

“I’m doing this to helpyou,darling,” she said. “Mags is a skeptic if I’ve ever seen one, so you better get your story straight before she comes to see you. Give her a week or two and she’ll show, I promise.”

I slowed my pace.

“What story?” I said with a nervous laugh.

Agnus rolled her eyes right before tugging me forward with a grip far stronger than someone her age should have.

“When I came to you, I was at my wits’ end,” she admitted, her suddenness taking me by surprise. “I believed. Wanted tobelieve so badly. But the moment you mentioned Bob’s love for planes, I knew you were a fake.”

We had moved out of the farmers’ market and toward my shop, so thankfully no one could hear her declaration. So I stopped in my tracks, forcing her to face me. Her smile caused my heart to sink into my stomach.

“But for the first time in months, I washappy,” she continued. “Truly, I was. So, I thought about it, then came back. But that time I came back foryou.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“I know,” she said with a laugh. “I probably shouldn’t have blurted it out like that, but believe me when I say that I want to keep you in this town for as long as possible. So, my motives for recommending you and feeding you this information are entirely selfish.”

I cleared my throat.

“But he had model planes everywhere,” I muttered.

A twinkle lit her eyes.

“It wascompulsion, not love,” she explained. “If anything, he was terrified of them after crashing once.”

I couldn’t look her in the eyes. Instead, my gaze trailed to the shop. The sign was pitiful and needed to be redone. The steps were crumbling. The windows needed cleaning. The entire place looked awful.

What have I been doing the last three months?

“But I think you needed me too,” she said, her hand coming to squeeze mine. This time I did look at her.

“I still do,” I confessed, my voice cracking.

She shook her head.

“In recent months, I have seen a shift in you. You don’t want to be here, in this town, anymore, and as much as I want to keep you… I should probably let you go.”

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