Page 86 of Lovewell Lane

“Tessa’s already asleep?” she asked.

“Yeah, you’re home pretty late.”

Margo sighed and looked at me. I wanted to melt from that look alone. “I feel bad that I missed her.”

“You can see her tomorrow,” I soothed. “What’s wrong?”

“My mother isn’t leaving,” Margo said. “She says she’s ‘found an unexpected interest’ and that I should welcome her to town.”

“Want me to talk to her?”

“No. I’ll do it.” She looked up at me then. “I need a minute first.”

I nodded and pulled her to my side. “Okay.”

“What if she had made a move on you?” Margo asked.

“I would have kicked her out,” I said simply.

Margo nodded and bit her lip with a worried look on her face.

“I’m not interested in anyone else, Margo.” I grabbed her chin gently to have her look at me. “You are the only person I want to do this with. Be with. No offense, but your insane mother isn’t my type.”

She giggled a little at that. “She would make you miserable.”

“Most people do,” I agreed. I let the silence settle around us for a little while longer before interrupting, “I think it’s good for you to stick up for yourself. You shouldn’t have to drop everything you’re doing for her. She isn’t your child. She’s supposed to be your mom.”

Margo nodded and rested her head on my shoulder while looking up at me. “I know. It’s just hard.”

“I know.” I let Slick get away with a lot more than he should. Having one dead parent made me want to appreciate the living one more.

I watched as Margo closed her eyes and calmed herself. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I need to do this myself.”

I busied myself in the kitchen, which coincidentally had the perfect view into the windows of the guest house while Margo spoke to her mom. From body language alone, the conversation was heated, but never escalated to yelling. It lasted for about thirty minutes before Margo walked back out of her door and back into mine.

She looked relieved. The weight of the world slightly less heavy on her shoulders. I pulled her into my arms before asking, “It went well?”

“As well as it could have,” Margo answered. “She’s going to get a room at the Inn in the morning.”

“Good,” I said. Though, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. If the guest house was suddenly open again, I didn’t have an excuse for Margo to sleep over every night. “One fire down, now all we have is the Honey Festival.”

Margo laughed. “Just one day left. I saw the mayor this morning. He couldn’t hide the smile on his face, so I’m guessing Scarlet worked some sort of magic to sell tickets.

“Thank fuck for that,” I said. “At this rate, nothing will surprise me. The entire Festival could consist of the mayor and his two cousins and I wouldn’t be shocked.”

“We should do slightly better than that,” Margo joked. “My best friend will be here. That’s three people.”

“Sounds like a raging success to me.” I paused. “Will I get to meet her?”

“Scarlet?”

“Yeah,” I said.

Margo tilted her head. “Of course. She’s excited to meet you. Is that weird?”

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