Page 4 of A Place Like You

He snorts, rolling his eyes at me. “Aww, my big brother is finally beginning to like me. How fucking touching.”

I flip him the finger. “Fuck you, Cal.”

“Lake already did a lot of damage, so no thank you. For now, let’s focus on what we can do to make this situation slightly better.”

Is there any hope of escaping this situation, or are we going to be living in this forsaken town permanently?

Chapter Two

Wren

“What are you reading?” Milo, my inquisitive five-year-old son, asks. His eyes shimmer with an eager spark of interest.

I lift the magazine my best friend Sutton handed me earlier when we visited the library. The perks of having a best-friend librarian. She’s always saving Milo’s favorite books and a few magazines for me. “An article, bud.”

He gives me an unamused glare before he returns his focus to the tower of books he acquired at the library. His tiny brows furrow in concentration as he ponders the order in which we’ll be reading them during the week.

I consider telling him this isn’t some high-stakes game, but I opt for a loving smile, returning to the most inaccurate article I’ve read in the past few days: Seventeen Single Mom Survival Tips.

The advice, while well-intentioned, doesn’t help me deal with my quirky boy.

Actually, most of these tips are useless.

Tip number five: Join up with other single moms. There’s no such thing as single mothers in this place. I might as well take on unicorn spotting. There’s just a single father who thinks the entire town is invisible and ignores us the best he can. I can’t count on him for . . . well anything.

Tip number seven: Organize sleepover exchanges. A chuckle escapes me because, really, who wants to exchange that with me?

I’ve lived in this town for five years, and none of the other parents have ever offered more than just pleasantries. That’s until a coughing child or routine check-up turns me from a stranger to the only doctor in town.

Milo’s attention flickers back to me. “What’s so funny, Mommy?”

“Just remembered a joke a patient shared earlier today,” I lie, keeping my tone light. There’s an art to preserving his innocence and fostering the belief that there’s good within everyone—even when, at times, people seem like empty vessels, only taking without offering anything in return, not even kindness.

He nods and goes back to his pile of books.

“Remember, it’s bath time, kiddo,” I prompt him, hoping this will speed up his daunting process.

This would be a great time to follow tip number eight: Rely on family members. But the thing is that I don’t have any relatives in Heartwood Lake. I should have thought about it when I decided to move here, but that wasn’t even an option. I am about to bring up the bath once again when I get a text from Finnegan Gil, the boss.

Finnegan: We need to talk.

Wren: Are you about to break up with me?

Finnegan: Not funny. If anyone reads that, they will really think there’s something going on between us.

Wren: Since when do you care what the town says?

Finnegan: Since hearing the gossip might upset my spouses—not that they would believe it, but still.

Of course, his significant others are the reason I have to be careful with what I say. I like them both well enough, but I’m pretty sure they’re not my fans. There’s never been anything between Finnegan and me, but the rumors can be tiresome.

Do I find Finn attractive? I’m not blind. He’s handsome in that rugged-well-built-enigmatic-eyes kind of way. However, I’m not into him. Not at all.

Now he’s happily married to not one but two people and has an adorable baby daughter.

Wren: Fine, let’s be technical. Are you planning on firing me?

Finnegan: No, but I have something for you.

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