Page 122 of Unspoken Hearts
Coming to the wooden stall with the Golden Hour logo hanging from the top, it’s set up with pastries, pies and muffins spread out on tables, along with pre-packaged sweets and biscuits that Laynie’s been preparing over the last few days.
The Honey Haven stand sits next to it. Laynie and Hazel probably requested for them to be side by side to make things easier, although that’s probably backfired now that Grayson isn’t here to help both of us out.
Laynie’s crystal eyes land on mine, and she comes out from the stand, face full of concern, and wraps me up in a tight, familiar hug. I melt against her, feeling the rush of water in my lashline, bracing myself for how she will react. Is she mad? Upset? Concerned?
Clearing my throat, she mutters into my ear, “Are you okay?”
“No,” I mumble in a low tone.
My friend pulls back with her rare unamused expression that makes me feel small once again, and I still can’t tell how she feels about this.
“Okay, tell me what happened.” Her arms cross in front of her denim overalls.
I frown lightly. “Did Gray not tell you?”
She shakes her head. “He stormed into my house, told me he was never speaking with you again and flopped down on my bed right as I was getting ready to leave. I didn’t really have time to talk, but I had a good guess of what happened.” Her hand cups my arm gently, face softening a fraction. “Do you want to talk about it?”
My head nods slowly, feeling everyone else’s gazes watching us. It feels like I have a spotlight shining on me.
I don’t like having everyone’s stares on me.
“Can we go for a walk, though?” I suggest, feeling a little too confined and suffocated standing in the middle of a crowded festival.
“Yeah,” Laynie lets out before looking at Paisley beside me. “Are you able to stay with Delly for a bit? We won’t be too long.”
“Sure.” She walks into the stall as Laynie half smiles.
“Let’s go then.”
We’ve been to a lot of town festivals over the years together, especially after Golden Hour was opened three years ago, but today, I’m hardly in the mood for all of the wholesome vibes. We come to the end of the blockage where the clocktower stands, and Laynie sits down on one of the wooden benches, facing away from the chaos of the town centre. It’s far enough away that I feel like I can breathe again, but it also gives some noise to fill in the silence between us.
“Okay, spill,” She insists, crossing one leg over the other, her black Doc Martins loosely tied.
Letting out a sigh, I dive right in. “I wanted to tell him, but thought I would wait until after today. I didn’t want to ruin everything for you and Hazel.”
Laynie just gives a small noise that’s neither annoyed nor amused.
Running my tongue along my lip, I continue, “Grayson saw Reid’s messages on my phone. I left it in the bathroom because he was hurrying me out to shower, and when I realised it was still upstairs, he’d already seen the texts.” I stare at the large clock face that ticks away the seconds of my life.
Agony settles in my chest again as Grayson’s distraught face appears in my mind for the upteenth time this morning. The look of utter horror and deception is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wipe out of my memory. It’s now stained like the last look my parents gave me before leaving, and Lucy lying to my face about coming back.
Laynie leans back on the chair, sucking in a deep breath. “You were going to tell him, right?”
I dip my chin. “Yeah, I wanted to. I was just scared of how he’d react.”
Her blonde brows pinch together. “Did you picture it like this?”
“I pictured it too many ways. I thought of every possible scenario, and that’s why it took me so long. In almost all of them, Grayson would yell, or curse, or leave, and I couldn’t deal with it.”
“And Reid went along with it?”
I nod again, tapping my hands on my thighs, trying to focus on that rather than the quick beat of my pulse. “He didn’t want to hurt him either. There’s a lot of jealousy between them, and I think Reid was also stressing about how he’d react.” I glance sideways at my friend, whose lips purse together. “Neither of us wanted to hurt him, but that’s exactly what we did.”
She nods knowingly, and I suck in a breath, my head tipping back slightly in the warm sun.
“I think he’s hurt because he found out this way. You didn’t directly tell him. He found out because it was a secret, and you know how he doesn’t like secrets,” Laynie reminds me, grabbing a hold of my hand to stop them from fidgeting.
I sniff. “I don’t think any of the Lawsons do. His brothers were telling Reid to come clean as well.”
