Page 17 of Big Risks

Maybe Hailey is right. Maybe these aren't just letters. Maybe they're a map back to the person I used to be—the person who knew how to love without fear.

I'm not sure I can find my way back there. I'm not sure I deserve to.

But for the first time in years, I want to try.

Chapter 5

Hailey

The Big Wood Volunteer Fire Department knows how to throw a party. Red, white, and blue bunting hang from every available surface, and the smell of barbecue smoke hangs in the air like a delicious fog. Kids dart between clusters of adults, their laughter punctuating the steady hum of conversation and country music playing from speakers mounted on the firehouse wall.

Hovering at the edge of it all, I clutch a paper plate with a hamburger I'm too nervous to eat. I'm still not used to these community gatherings where everyone seems connected by invisible threads of shared history.

"Hailey! Hailey! HAILEY!"

Olivia's voice cuts through the crowd noise before I spot her, barreling toward me at top speed. Her dark curls bounce witheach step, and she's dragging Walker behind her, his expression a mix of amusement and apology.

"You came!" Olivia crashes into my legs, nearly toppling my untouched burger.

"Careful, Liv," Walker says, catching up. He's wearing a faded blue t-shirt that makes his eyes look impossibly bright. "Hey, Hailey."

"Hey." I manage a smile that I hope doesn't betray the flutter in my chest. "Nice party."

"Standard Big Wood fare. Food, flags, and firefighters showing off their equipment to impress the single ladies." His eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles.

"Daddy, can I get a hot dog?" Olivia tugs at his hand.

"Didn't you just eat a hamburger?"

"That was like a hundred minutes ago," she says with dramatic exasperation.

Walker sighs. "Fine. One hot dog. Want anything, Hailey?"

I lift my plate. "I'm good, thanks."

As they head toward the food table, I take a breath. This is fine. Just a community barbecue. Just Walker in a t-shirt that fits him too well. Just normal small-town stuff.

"You came!" Becky appears at my side, startling me. "I wasn't sure you would."

"I figured I should show my face. Everyone's been so nice."

"Everyone's just happy to have a school nurse who doesn't have one foot out the door." She nudges me with her shoulder. "And look, you've already got a fan club."

She nods toward Olivia, who's pointing emphatically at the hot dog she wants while Walker patiently waits.

"She's a great kid."

"She is," Becky agrees. "And her dad's not bad either."

I feel heat rise to my cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." She grins. "Oh, heads up, story time's about to start. Jace is reading this year, and he takes it very seriously."

Across the lawn, chairs are being arranged in a semicircle around a decorated "storyteller's chair." Children begin migrating that direction, Olivia among them, now clutching a hot dog in one hand and Walker's fingers in the other.

"Come on," Becky says. "It's tradition."

I follow her to the edge of the gathering, where adults stand watching as Jace, the father of the twins Eli and Wren, who I recognize from school, takes his seat with exaggerated ceremony. He's holding a worn copy ofWhere the Wild Things Areand wearing a paper crown.

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