Page 87 of Lovewell Lane

“No. I think that’s nice.”

“I know we’re taking things slow,” Margo reasoned. “If it’s weird–”

“It isn’t, Margo. I’m excited to meet her.”

We gave each other tired smiles before quickly agreeing to head to bed. Once we were in our designated spots, she pulled out her journal that she showed me on the night we caught fireflies together.

“Writing about your mother?” I asked when the scratching of the pen on paper sounded aggressive.

She laughed lightly. “Yup. Just so I don’t forget a few years from now.”

I trailed my gaze over to her, she was bent over with the journal in her lap. “It looks like you’re on the last few pages.”

Margo sighed. “I know. I need to get a new one. I’ve just had this one for a few years, and Scarlet got it for me. It feels lame to just replace it with some random journal from a department store. So I’ve been writing in teeny tiny writing.”

She flipped the journal around to show me her ridiculously small handwriting. I laughed at her weird quirk and waited patiently for her to finish writing. Once she was done, she let out a giant exhale.

“Feel better?”

She nodded with a sweet smile. “It really does help to write everything down. I should get you one sometime.”

“Only if I get one of those sparkly pens, too.”

She put her journal and pen on the side table next to her before lying down and scooting closer. Her laughter warmed my neck. “I can have that arranged.”

I held her tighter than I ever had, and we fell into a deep sleep soon after.

30

Margo

My cursive ‘Closed’ sign took up more of the chalkboard than I meant for it to. My handwriting got a little scrunched as I tried to write out the details for the Honey Festival underneath my Closed lettering. I erased the bottom half and tried again, making the loops a little softer this time.

I picked up Scarlet from the airport early this morning. Derek begrudgingly let me out of his bed long enough for me to sneak out to my guest house. It was nice to have my space back, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying staying with Derek.

I told Sarah and Michael weeks ahead that today would be the first day I wouldn’t be opening the diner since the first day we opened. It felt wrong. But, my excitement to pick up Scarlet outweighed the strange feeling of breaking my daily routine.

In the airport, we hugged each other tightly. Hugging in our friendship was reserved for momentous occasions such as this. I squeezed her tight before pulling her into my car to share the adorable little town I called home.

I gave her the full tour of the town. It was an entirely different experience compared to the tour I gave to my mother a few days prior. I got a call around nine am from my mother telling me that she had taken a flight to France to meet up with an old friend. Scarlet was in my car when it happened and rolled her eyes. Myshoulders relaxed a little as I listened to my mom drone on and on about how she was ready to have a hot summer romance.

When the call was over, I filled Scarlet in on everything that had happened over the last couple of days. I knew Scarlet didn’t like my mother. She was very protective over me, but she did her best to bite her tongue and keep things light-hearted when my mother was involved. This time, she downright scowled when I told her I walked in on my mom trying to make a move on Derek.

That line of conversation devolved into me spilling my guts to Scarlet about Derek. How we were taking things slow. Seeing where it would go. I could tell how antsy she was to meet him.

Scarlet was charmed by everything about Honeyfield. She gasped at Derek’s backyard and my guest house where I’d been staying. She took a thousand pictures of his garden and the ducks that came and went as they pleased.

“I’m not going to lie. I totally thought you’d joined a cult, it all sounded too good to be true. But if this town is the result, sign me up,” Scarlet said while she stood next to me on the sidewalk in front of the diner.

I laughed and gestured for her to walk inside the now-empty diner. A few of our regulars were grumpy at the announcement that we were closing early today, but they seemed to understand that I needed to prepare for the Honey Festival. Scarlet and I collapsed into the empty chairs, tired from a long day of walking around.

“So,” Scarlet whispered. “Where is Derek? I haven’t seen him once.”

I leaned back into my seat further. “He’ll be preparing for the Festival. Probably working in one of their buildings for processing foods. I think Tessa is with his sister, Calliope. All of the Westons will be in town for tomorrow.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Oh, four siblings. Derek, Sam, Jack, and Calliope. Tessa, of course. And their father, Slick.”

---