Page 16 of Safe With Me
Still, I stood in the kitchen, wreath-making supplies laid out on the table that had been in the store when my great-grandfather owned it, and I was simply sad.
I wanted to run away. Basically, I had run from the store, and guilt at leaving Daddy in the lurch pricked at me. And I hadenough room to be sympathetic for Elizabeth’s distress over Jase and their broken engagement, but I couldn’t stay in the middle of her chaos or in the reality of Tate comforting her.
I couldn’t stay and watch him hold what he’d always wanted instead of me.
After I’d said goodbye to Tick, I’d retreated to the woods for a little foraging, just enough to make a wreath for myself since I’d stopped taking orders when Elizabeth claimed my items as her own on YouTube and Instagram. I’d definitely stopped posting anything on Insta because then I’d been accused of stealing.
So I’d quit making florals.
Baking had gone the same way.
Now The Niche had, too.
However, I would not be a victim. I might look like the villain, but I’d be a healthy, whole villain.
I simply needed to figure out what my new story looked like.
The little girl in me wanted to run, like when I’d turned fourteen and begged to live with Daddy. I wanted to break my lease, pack my stuff, and go somewhere else.
The badass woman I wanted to be saidnope. Giving up the store was a strategic retreat. Being there with Elizabeth wasn’t healthy. I needed my life to change so I didn’t feel the way I felt – marginalized, diminished, less, threatened – and the only way that would change was me.
I needed to make a healthy, safe life for myself.
I could grieve my sister and hope she figured herself out, but I had to take care ofme.
So.
First steps . . . figure out my work situation. Thanks to Daddy preaching financial savviness, I possessed healthy savings, so I could take a step away from the store.
My heart broke a little more. I stiffened my shoulders and wove cedar clippings around the wire wreath form.
Maybe I could put together another little shopping corner somewhere else. Holly Callahan had a clothing display at Simply Home, cute fast fashion pieces she rotated. One or two weekends a month, she held pop-up boutiques. I couldn’t do that in Coney without competing with The Niche, and that meant competing with Daddy. The store had paid for the clothing and goods I’d curated, and he would need to sell through the stock.
I tied off the cedar and began layering magnolia leaves. Maybe a booth at Livi & Co . . . they had both an Albany and a Thomasville location. Thomasville might work. My items were different than Kevin’s there. A booth at Livi’s would save me on overhead, and I could make a small start funded out of my savings. Even so, I still needed a day job. All I’d ever done was work with Daddy.
Maybe I’d go to school, like technical college. I didn’t see myself pursuing a four-year degree. But what would I do?
Gracie loved nursing, but the blood and all icked me out.
Holly Callahan was a vet tech. I liked animals, but again . . . blood. I knew my limitations.
Cosmetology?
Maybe culinary arts.
With a frustrated growl, I dropped the half-finished wreath. Bitterness picked at the cracks in my emotions, trying to work its way in.
I shouldn’t have to rework my entire life,settlefor a new profession because Elizabeth chose to be entitled and disruptive.Because she had choices, too, and she consistently chose herself over others.
Just like Mama.
And Tate had the absolute nerve to call me a bitch.
My gaze fell on the note, lying on the counter next to the vase of dahlias. I snatched it up and had already partially ripped it in half before I unfolded it, holding the paper together to read.
Hannah, I’m sorry. I was way out of line, and I was wrong. You’re none of the things I said. Let me tell you what you are . . . sweet and caring and real. You’re a good friend, a good listener. You’re creative and smart and funny and caring. You’re the best person I know. Tate
Fury didn’t need a crack – it blasted its way through my veins, a waterslide of heat. Maybe the same when a door seal failed in an action movie and water blew through a submarine. Yes. Fury like that.
