Page 58 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
Liz tapped the thumbs up emoji. Then she looked at Rose. “We have one hour to kill before we continue our prom dress shopping. What do you want to do?”
Rose gave her a strange look. It occurred to Liz that, aside from the girls’ night the other week, she and her sister had never really hung out for fun. The age gap between them always felt too far to cross.
“Ice cream,” Liz decided, standing up. “We’ll eat ice cream and then try on every dress in town if we have to.” She offered her hand to Rose, who reluctantly took it. Then Liz pulled her sister up to a standing position. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
To: Liz Dawson
From: Bri Johnson
Subject: What If
Liz,
All the what-ifs continue to keep me up at night as I get closer to my release date. I just keep imagining all the worst-case scenarios. The best-case ones seem to disappear when I close my eyes for sleep. You hear about people who get out of prison and can’t find a job or a means to support themselves. They can’t cope. Then they commit crimes just to return to the familiar. I get why that happens. Don’t get me wrong. I want my freedom, but I’m also a little bit afraid of it. Stupid?
Ally wrote me a letter this week. She’s having a blast with her dad in Cali. What if she doesn’t want to come home after spending all summer with him? What if she likes him better? What if I lose her completely?
B
P.S. Don’t worry about me committing a crime to come back to prison. That’s not going to happen. The ex-cons who make that choice obviously don’t have friends like you waiting for them on the outside.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
MELODY
Melody and Christopher had been the only guests who’d ended up coming to Mrs. West’s house for Sunday lunch. Matt had some other obligation and Liz was, of all things, dress shopping with her sister.
“You didn’t eat very much,” Mrs. West commented, looking over her shoulder at Melody’s plate. This afternoon, Mrs. West was in a very different state of mind than she’d been the other day when Melody had seen her. As Christopher had said, she had moments of clarity and others of confusion. Today, she was clear-minded and in good spirits.
“I got seconds, remember?” Melody asked, worried momentarily that Mrs. West was growing confused.
“Yes, that’s right. Well, I always have enough to serve thirds when I invite guests over.” The older woman smiled warmly as she rinsed each dish and handed it to Melody to load into the dishwasher. She’d aged a lot in the years that Melody had been away. Melody supposed that losing one’s husband and suffering from dementia would do that. “Today is the first I’ve seen you in years. How are you, Melody?”
Melody decided not to mention that she’d actually seen Mrs. West last week. “I’m good. I live in Charlotte now. I have a job and an apartment.”
“Mm. Well, jobs and apartments don’t take the place of friends and family, do they? Do you have friends in Charlotte?”
Melody nodded as she took a plate from Mrs. West’s hands. “I do.”
“And are you happy there?” Mrs. West asked.
Melody hesitated. That was a blunt question—one that no one had bothered or dared to ask since she’d been back to the isle. They’d asked how business was and things like that, but no one had touched on her emotional state, which was neither happy nor sad. It was numb, which is what she’d thought she wanted. “Happy?” Melody repeated, stalling for an answer. “I guess so,” she finally said.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Mrs. West asked.
Melody shook her head. “Not currently, no. I had one. We broke up last year.”
Mrs. West looked genuinely apologetic. “I’m sorry to hear that. Break-ups are so hard on the heart, aren’t they? If I recall, your first break-up led you to wanting to become a nun.” Mrs. West chuckled under her breath.
How could Christopher’s mom forget her husband dying, but remember that detail about Melody’s seventh grade year? How did Mrs. West even know that detail?
“It was so sad, but also adorable. You were such a good kid.” Mrs. West looked at her sincerely. “You deserve love, Melody. I’m sorry things didn’t work out with your last fellow.”
“Don’t be.” Melody bent and placed a large casserole dish in the bottom compartment of the dishwasher. “He was lazy. And a bit of a jerk. Not the kind of guy who’s nice to his mama.”
Mrs. West’s lips rounded into a hugeOof surprise. “Well, Christopher has always been nice to me,” she said then, adding a little wink after her words.
Melody didn’t want Mrs. West to get the wrong idea. Melody had spent a little time with Christopher, but there was nothing romantic brewing between them. Yeah, Melody was a bit attracted to him, but she was also attracted to Chris Hemsworth and there was nothing romantic brewing between her and Thor either—unfortunately. “To answer your question, yes, I’m very happy in Charlotte. I plan to return later this summer.”
