Page 63 of The Way Back Home

“You do that,” August remarks, and I shoot him a look that says to knock it off. Standing right here in this room are the only people who’ve been nice to me since I arrived in Magnolia Springs, and I can’t afford to lose a single one of them.

Jude leaves and a beat later, Jake finally pokes his head in the door. His dog, Nuke, flanks his side, and he’s carrying little Maybelle in her car seat. I make a beeline for the baby. She’s going on five months now, and it seems as if she’s grown to astronomical proportions since I left. I scoop her up and hold her close, smelling the top of her head and smiling at her clean baby scent. When I look up, August is watching me closely. I’m not sure why, but I blush three different shades of red, and I have to look away. “Hi, Jake.”

“Hey, Liv. Did you know there’s a group of women out here waiting to come in?”

“There is?” I ask, moving past him to peek through one of the windows. Kathy Abernathy and her posse of snooty bitches are all standing around outside in their church clothes, and I bet they’re just dying to come and find cause enough to petition the mayor to close my shelter. “Shoot.”

Ellie joins me at the window for a looky-loo. “Who’s that?”

“Oh no one, just the devil and her spineless minions.”

“What is going on with that hair? It looks like the cat’s been sucking on it.” Ellie gives the window her back and smiles at me. “Looks like it sucked the joy right out of her face too.”

“Sounds about right,” I say with a sigh. “She’s not exactly my number-one fan. Tried to convince the town that our dogs were unsafe and have us shut down before we could even open our doors.”

“Well, we could always not let her in, but then where’s the fun in that?” Ellie takes the baby from me and hands her off to Jake. She grabs my arm and leads me away from the window. “August, would you be a sweetheart and throw me one of those red T-shirts on that counter?”

He looks quizzically at my best friend. “Sure.”

“Thank you,” she says, catching the shirt in midair. She throws it on over her tank top.

“I think I’ll go check on the kids,” August says.

“I’ll come,” Jake says, but Ellie holds up a hand to stop him.

“Oh no, mister. You and Nuke are staying right there.”

August shrugs and shoots Jake an apologetic look before pushing open the door and disappearing through it as quickly as possible. Ellie pulls a compact from her purse and I glance at her as if she’s lost her damn mind. “What are you doing?”

“Helping out my best friend when she’s in need.” Ellie dabs the powder puff over my face, concentrating on my black eye. I wince, because it hurts like a bitch. “Though you and I are gonna have us a little chat later. I’m still mad at you.”

“I can tell,” I say, afraid I might lose an eye. I move out of her reach.

“Girl, August Cotton is fine. Why didn’t you tell me you two had a thing?”

“It ain’t even like that.”

“Oh, it’s like that. Trust me, with him looking at you the way he does, you definitely have a thing.”

I never realized just how much I missed my best friend until this point. All this time I’ve been dealing with everything on my own, and I forgot how much I needed her, how much I needed them.

I shake my head and stare up at the ceiling. “He’s complicated.”

“He’s a Marine. Were you expecting easy?”

“I don’t know, Elle. I’m starting to think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.”

“Oh, honey, hush. There isn’t a man alive that can’t be fixed with a little understanding, some TLC, and a batch of baked goods. Now pull yourself together, and put some lipstick on, we’ve got to wipe the floor with some basic bitches.”

I may have terrible taste in men, but I sure know how to pick a best friend.

***

“YOU BEST CALL ME, OLIVIAAnders, or I’m gonna go straight to Kathy Abernathy and find out all those juicy little secrets you been keeping,” Ellie shouts, hanging out the passenger window as Jake backs their minivan down my drive. “She and I are tight now, don’t forget.”

“I promise I’ll call you,” I yell back and wave goodbye. Jake reverses out onto the road and honks the horn. I blow a kiss and watch their taillights disappear through the trees.

I am plum worn out. Opening day had a much better turnout than I’d anticipated. We’d had a barbeque, and a bouncy castle for the kids, and Beau had even surprised me with his face-painting skills. He’d been the mastermind behind that very detailed graffiti on my walls a couple of months back, and it was nice to see him putting his thug-life skills to good use now.

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