Page 3 of Hand Picked
It had taken a minute for me to connect the dots, but then I’d understood. The SundayswereLittle Pippin Hollow. Their family had lived on their land for centuries, and everyone in town—even someone as new as me—knew that if you wanted a person to coach kids’ soccer, or contribute to your fundraiser, or help build your barn, Webb Sunday was the man to ask.
So if Webb didn’t like me, it made a strange kind of sense that the rest of the town would keep me at arm’s length, too. I couldn’t even be mad about it, because it was the kind of small-town loyalty I’d craved to be a part of…
It just stank that Iwasn’ta part of it.
But I kept hoping that if I worked hard and stuck around long enough, things would change.
“So.” I gave Murray a brilliant smile. “Exciting plans for tonight, Murray?”
“I’m heading over to the Sundays’ place to pick up Aiden for a sleepover with Olin. Even though the roads are clear, they’re saying they’ll probably cancel school again tomorrow, ’cause it’s not safe for kids to get to the bus stops. A second snow day will be really great, eh?”
“Oh. Yeah. That’s…” I reflected on what I’d done that afternoon—sitting in the drafty, overcrowded camper trailer that had been Ben Pond’s actual home, all by myself, frogging out the stitches of the crochet project I’d ruined. “…great.”
If by “great” you meant “likely to end with me eating every carbohydrate in my camper, shaving my head just to see how it looks, and watching organizational TikToks while I ignore the utter chaos of my own living space.”
“Hey, if you’re heading to the Sundays’, would you mind dropping something off for me? I’ve got a book I promised Aiden. Let me just grab it.”
I trudged across the plowed driveway to the 1978 Coachman Cadet and pulled open the door with a spine-jarring yank. The rusty hinges squealed, and a few flakes drifted down to join their brethren in the snow below. The nineteen-foot travel trailer wasn’t much to look at, but at least it didn’t have snow fallinginsideof it. Plus, it had electricity, gas heat, running water, and my Wi-Fi hotspot. What else could anyone need?
I turned on the lights and let the somewhat warmer air loosen my shoulders. “Give me a minute to find it. It’s hard to keep things organized in here.”
I turned in a circle to remind myself where to begin. Picture books, chapter books, school supplies, and heaps of colorful yarn took up every available space in the trailer.
When I spotted the book I was looking for, I extracted it carefully from its cubby. A zipper pouch of Magic Markers tumbled to the table below, knocking a stack of math worksheets to the ground.
“Gracious gravy. Sorry! One of these days, I’ll find the right organization system.” I rolled my eyes. “Or, you know, manage to part with some of my teaching materials.”
I’d done as much as I could to spruce up the camper with a gallon of paint and a bunch of bins and bags from the dollar store, but it was a constant fight to keep the place from looking like a refugee from Hoarders: School Supply Edition.
Murray’s big body nearly knocked me sideways as he passed me in the narrow walkway between the sofa and banquette. “I recognize this. It’s Olin’s, right?”
“Yup!” I smiled at the stick drawing of Olin, Aiden, Olin’s brothers and sisters, and the dog that was taller than all of them put together. “When I was out sick a few weeks ago, the substitute had the students draw me pictures to cheer me up. Olin said his dog always makes him smile. I told him now his dog would make me smile, too.”
Murray hummed and took the offered book from my hands. “Must be working. You sure do smile a lot, Mr.… um, Luke.”
I laughed. “Sometimes you’ve gotta smile, Murray, or you’d cry your eyes out. In fact, the best time to smile is when things are at their roughest. Find something to be grateful for, and fake it until you make it.”
“I s’pose. Or you could just… do something to make yourself happier, right? Like, I told Webb he oughta get a puppy for Aiden to cheer him up. Poor kid’s had it rough, missing his mom and all.”
Thinking about Webb Sunday again made my stomach flip over, a kind of painful yearning-frustrated ache that got worse when I tried to push it away.
“They already have a dog, though,” I said without thinking.
“Yeah, but Sally Ann’s getting up there. If they get a pup now, she can train him up, and it won’t be so hard on Aiden when she passes.” He shrugged. “But what do I know? Webb knows best.”
I felt my smile slip before I caught it.
Webb didn’t know everything.
He didn’t know me, or how much I liked this town, or that I wanted to be a friend to him, if he’d let me…
Wow, yeah, great job of putting that situation behind you and staying positive, Williams.
“Anyway. I best get going so I can pick up Aiden and make it home in time to watch the boys while my folks go to the town meeting. You going? Aw, you should,” he said when I shook my head. “Big developer wants to build a vacation resort up on Fogg Peak—” He pointed somewhere vaguely north of the barn where my sheep were nestled down for the night. “Dad says half the town’s gonna lose their minds if Mayor York lets it happen, and the other half’ll lose their minds if he doesn’t. Gonna be a doozy.”
“Wrestlemania, but Little Pippin Hollow style?”
Murray snicker-snorted. “Kinda. And afterward, folks’ll end up at the Bugle to drink Rusty Spikes and watch hockey.”
