Page 20 of Caught in the Axe
“I’m going to need some time to sit with this,” Magnolia said solemnly, taking a long sip of her drink. With a loud sigh, she bowed her head. “And process my grief.”
“In the meantime,” Willa said, a smirk creeping up one side of her mouth, “make sure the liquor cabinet is fully stocked when I move in. I have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
Magnolia scoffed. “As if I haven’t been preparing for your arrival for months. Your rooms are ready, and we’re fully stocked up.” She rubbed her hands together. “Finally, our plan is coming together.”
A few years ago, Magnolia had inherited a condo inTribeca from an aunt. Or maybe a grandparent. She had the kind of multi-generational family money that meant every time she turned around, one of her relatives was inheriting a random house somewhere new.
For now, she and several rescue cats lived there alone, waiting for Willa and me to move in.
We’d been hatching this master plan since we were kids. The three of us together, living it up in the city. It had seemed inevitable after we graduated from high school, but real life got in the way, as it usually does, and it had taken far longer than any of us anticipated.
Magnolia was well established, both with her trust fund and her career as an event planner. Willa had already been accepted into a prestigious internal medicine fellowship. All I had to do was get accepted to grad school.
We’d live our best city lives, finally shedding the last vestiges of the small-town versions of ourselves we’d been outgrowing since high school.
For me, it was a fresh start, a chance to seriously pursue my education, which had felt like an afterthought for so long.
And for Willa, New York was one last taste of freedom. She’d always planned to return to Lovewell, but a three-year fellowship in NYC before her father retired and handed the practice over to her was a gift she would not take for granted.
I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer for a big, fat envelope from NYU to arrive in the mail. I’d visualized the moment many times, but it was beginning to feel real.
Willa launched into a story about the most disgusting thing to come through her clinic that week, and Mags filled us in on a rave she’d thrown for a new sneaker release on Wednesdaynight.
When it was my turn to share what I’d been up to since the last time we talked, I sat up straight and smiled. “I got a new job.”
Willa gave me an unimpressed look. “Another job?”
I shrugged. “It’s temporary but good pay and actually relevant.”
“The pay is good? In Lovewell?” Magnolia scoffed.
“Yeah.” I popped a piece of popcorn into my mouth and chewed. “I’m helping out with the sale of Hebert Timber.”
Magnolia rolled her eyes. “Oh no.”
Willa huffed. “Nope.”
“Girl. We’ve talked about this. Boundaries.” Magnolia pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you want me to schedule another session with my psychiatric hypnotist?”
I shuddered. Absolutely not. Once was enough. While I took mental health seriously, being hypnotized was not my idea of a good time.
“What happened to getting far away from that family?” Magnolia asked. “It took years to drag you out of the Cole vortex.”
“And you’ve come so far!” Willa said, giving me a genuine look of concern.
“How about you come to New York for a visit?” Magnolia tapped at the screen of her phone. “I’ll get you on a flight from Bangor and book spa treatments.”
Annoyance and genuine affection battled inside me. Their reactions were over-the-top, but they came from a place of love and concern. I’d ignored my own needs for so long, and I’d been so hurt by Cole, so I couldn’t blame them for fighting for me.
As a recovering doormat, sometimes I forgot how muchmy inability to stand up for myself affected the people I loved. And it wasn’t until I’d sought out therapy that I even understood it was happening.
I shook my head. “Let me explain.” My tone was unusually forceful.
Both women went quiet and watched me. This was why I loved them. They didn’t agree, but they were willing to listen.
“It’s only for a few weeks. I’m working for Owen Hebert. He doesn’t even speak to Cole. And it’s purely accounting and records stuff. The kind of monotonous, boring work that I actually enjoy.”
Willa cocked her head. “Who is Owen?”
