Page 12 of The Way Back Home

“Are we keeping you from someone?” Katherine asks.

“Oh, no. I was just looking for ...” I roll my gaze over the crowd one last time and spot the man who I believe brought me here in the first place. “Is that Mayor Winkler?”

“You know the mayor too?” Georgia says, brightly.

“My, my,” Katherine says with a malicious smile. “You just got here, and it seems you know everyone already. Oh, Mr. Mayor?”

“We haven’t met yet,” I say, but no one appears to be listening to me because Mayor Winkler waddles toward our group, and it’s as if the Dead Sea itself is parting.

“Ladies, lovely to see you today,” Mayor Winkler says. The group fawns all over the man as if it’s the second coming of Christ, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Now, I don’t believe I’ve met this pretty little angel. How do you do? I’m Mayor Winkler.”

“Olivia Anders.”

“Olivia?” he says, and his dark brow glistens with sweat. He blots it away with a handkerchief.Doesn’t this town ever use Kleenex? “Well I’ll be damned. Welcome, young lady, welcome.”

“Thank you.” After all this time, I’m finally meeting the man who convinced me that setting up a shelter here was the best thing for everyone, and given that the last few days have been nothing short of hell, I don’t know whether to kiss or slap him. I settle for a handshake instead.

Mr. Mayor asks if I’ve had a chance to meet Dalton Brooks yet—another veteran who returned to Magnolia Springs a different man than the one who went away to war. I hoped he’d be here today, but I understand that crowds aren’t always every Marine’s cup of tea. He doesn’t mention Jason Lambert—an eighteen-year-old kid who shot himself in his childhood home just last spring. I’d already done my research, though. Jason may be buried six feet under, but he’s what brought me here, and I intend to make sure that Magnolia Springs doesn’t lose any more veterans.

I’m mid-way through telling Mayor Winkler when he can expect Paws for Cause to open when a familiar voice bursts through the crowd.

“Wivvie, Wivvie,” the little girl shouts, and I whirl around to find Bettina barreling toward us. August walks at a clip behind her to keep up. “Did you see?”

I squat down to her level. “I sure did. You looked amazing walking in that parade. I’m so proud of you, sugar bean.”

August approaches us cautiously, his gaze scanning for danger the way a lot of Marines do. Our eyes meet over the top of Bettina’s head and I smile up at him. “Hi.”

He nods his chin in my direction and I know that’s all the greeting I’ll get, but he surprises me by coming a little closer and saying, “We’re not staying. I just wanted to know if you needed a lift back?” I flinch, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and August frowns and runs a hand through his hair. “You know what? Never mind.”

“I’d like that,” I say, quickly, terrified of being swallowed up by Stepford and spat out the other side the carbon copy of Katherine and her friends.

August clears his throat. “Alright then, well, we were going to head off before the fireworks start.”

“Okay, just let me say goodbye to the mayor.”

“You don’t have to come, you know?”

“I said I would.” I frown at him. “Didn’t I?”

“Auggie dwoesn’t like the fiey works. Boom, boom, boom,” Olivia shouts and skips away from us, so I’m left staring at her brother.

“Seen one firework, you’ve seen them all, right?”

“Right,” he scoffs, and I know his distaste for them isn’t because he dislikes the thing itself, but because of the noise they make, and the memories they dig up. As part of our training, we have to recreate certain situations that may be a trigger for the soldier and the dog, so that the canine knows what to do. Fireworks are often a trigger for anyone who made it out of a war zone.

August walks away to wrangle his sister, and I turn back to the mayor to say my goodbyes. Everyone is glaring at me.

Mayor Winkler yanks on the hem of his vest, pulling it down over his rotund belly. “I didn’t realize you’d be staying at the Tanglewood residence. Especially not so soon after the Cottons passed, God rest their souls.”

“I didn’t know they had passed, and since everything is closed until tomorrow, I had nowhere else to go.”

“My dear girl,” the Mayor says, grabbing my hands and enveloping them in his sweaty grip. “You should have called me.”

I smile politely. “No need. Tanglewood has been just fine, and I’ll go and see about finding a rental tomorrow.”

“Oh, I work at the realtor in town,” Georgia says. “You come see me, and we’ll find you something just perfect.” Katherine shoots her a look filled with so much venom she’s practically hissing.

“What a great idea. Miss Georgia will sort you out with something more suitable,” Mayor Winkler says. “She’s more than just a pretty face.”

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