Page 29 of As They Are
“Did your calls go well?” she asked.
I bit my lip and shook my head.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“I had hoped for something and it’s not gonna happen.” I shrugged.
“Two heads are better than one. And you’d have four if we were all downstairs.”
“I’m not trying to hijack your dinner with work talk.”
“You’re not hijacking anything. We all talk about our days at dinner. And something tells me you have a lot going on.”
“I’m not hiding it as well as I could be, huh?”
“You look a little bit like I did when I first came here,” she said. “And we still have that spot where we can bury the body of any man who hurts you. Although the farm has some good ones too.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “There are certainly more options now.”
“Let’s go eat. And then we can talk about everything.”
Cain and Eric were already at the dining room table. Cain was locked in a long conversation about a kids’ show.
I sat with them, trying to resist the urge to feel out of place among their little family. When I was a kid and I went to Mollie’s house for dinner, I felt the same way. Her parents weren’t perfect, like many weren’t. But they cared—and that felt alien to me. Sure, Dad had tried, but he was too busy putting food on the table. He didn’t have time to sit and enjoy it.
It was obvious that Cain was busy too, yet he still had time for Eric. So far, it had been a struggle not to be jealous. Especially when I was the outsider. But I shoved it all into a box and smiled at the scene.
Even if it fought me every step of the way.
“What’s your favorite show, Wren?” Eric asked.
I blinked. “I don’t really watch TV.”
“And you’reonTV?” Cain asked.
Mollie glared at him. “Seriously?”
“Sorry. That came out ruder than I meant it to. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.”
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “The TV show was never the official plan, but they could offer funding that I couldn’t. For certain things, apparently. It comes with restrictions.”
“Like what?” Mollie asked.
I stabbed at the chicken on the plate, still feeling raw from Madison’s no. “They’ll fund the thingstheybelieve in. Not what’s actually good for a community.”
“Is that the call you made?” she asked.
“Yeah. I had an idea for a project. It won’t work out.”
“What was it?”
“It was something you would’ve loved. No need to get your hopes up only to crush them like mine were, though.”
“You don’t need to protect me,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you right now.”
I sighed. I wasn’t used to being told no after years of being my own boss. It was tempting to hide and lick my wounds, but Mollie wouldn’t let this go. “You know the library on the square? I wanted to work on that.”
Mollie’s fork clattered. “Seriously? Here?”
