Chapter 1
THE DECISION
MAGGIE
No matter how many times I packed my stuff, most of it wound up in garbage bags.
I learned at a young age to never form an attachment to anything because there was a good chance it would be long gone by the next move.
And I had moved a lot so far in my nineteen years of life.
River’s Run was by far the only place I could call home because it was the only town I lived in for more than a year.
Once we moved here and I made instant friends with Celeste Hendricks and her boyfriend-but-she-wouldn’t-call-him-that-friend Wesley Madden, I drew a line in the sand and told my mother that my days of packing up and moving were gone.
We were staying put, whether she liked it or not.
That may have been a blessing or a curse because it resulted in a lot of nights at home by myself.
My mom kept our tiny apartment, but dipped out, sometimes for weeks at a time, to go stay at her latest boyfriend’s place.
And there was always a new boyfriend. River’s Run’s close proximity to an Army base meant there was a revolving door of men at Diana Eaton’s disposal.
It was what led to my parents’ divorce. Monogamy, conceptually, sounded like a great idea to my mom, but it in practice…
well, let’s just say my dad was better off.
He found someone else as committed to the idea of marriage as him, and they lived happily in southern Florida with their kids.
I became an afterthought, someone he conveniently forgot about after my half-siblings arrived.
Not that I could begrudge him. Wasn’t finding a life partner the sole reason of life? Nobody wanted to weather the storm alone.
Which was why I found myself currently shoving all of my belongings back in garbage bags while my best and only friend, Celeste Hendricks, sat on my bed with her toddler, Iris, in her lap.
Poor Celeste became a mom at only sixteen, and although I did everything I could to help her, she made motherhood look terrifying.
Celeste hadn’t slept a full night in years and constantly teetered on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Iris was a good kid, too, so I couldn’t imagine being a mother to a little monster like some of our classmates now were.
“I don’t understand,” Celeste said again, cradling her forehead in her hand. “Where exactly are you going to go?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I admitted. “But anywhere has to be better than here.”
“Maggie, that’s insane. You just passed your boards!”
I nodded. “And that will make it easier for me to find a job so I can land on my feet.”
The results from the Georgia Cosmetology Board sat open on my dresser. I passed with flying colors and would receive my official cosmetology license in the mail within the next few days. Celeste had become the test subject of many attempts to master the art of hair color, haircuts, and extensions.
“All I’m saying is, maybe find the job first so you can save up a little money and then get a place of your own. Don’t just run away.” Celeste fixed me with what I now called her Mom Glare, much to her dismay.
“Hey, that might work on my honorary daughter here, but that’s not gonna work on me.” To break her scrutiny, I plucked Iris off her lap and tossed the giggling toddler into the air before catching her around the waist. Iris’ laughter served to soften Celeste’s expression. A rarity, these days.
“I can’t stay here, Celeste, you know that,” I reminded her quietly. “Diana’s gotten worse.”
Once I started high school, I ceased to call my mother by anything other than her real name.
She actually preferred it that way, saying it made us seem more like sisters, thereby making her feel younger.
It was hard to call someone you couldn’t respect a title that held so much weight to it.
I saw firsthand how much Celeste still missed her mom, even seven years after her death.
Diana didn’t deserve that kind of reverence from me.
“Why can’t you just tell me what happened?” my best friend prompted, sending an involuntary shudder down my spine.
The memory of the night before when I left my room to refill my glass of water only to find Diana and her latest flavor of the month making out on the couch made my heart race.
She straddled him, their gyrations clearly indicating what was to come, but the man broke away from her long enough to flirtatiously peruse my body.
“You’re legal now, right?” he growled at me. “Care to join? I’ve never had a mother and daughter at once.”
Then the humiliation washed over me as my mother looked up at me with interest, as though the idea intrigued her rather than repulsed her.
I had never scurried back into my room so fast, locking the door and dragging my dresser in front of it just for good measure.
Thankfully both of them were gone by the time I got up this morning.
Celeste had enough on her plate. Ever since we graduated high school, her evil stepmother made her work from sun up to sun down at their family’s diner.
She worked herself to the point of exhaustion, never spending more than a few minutes a day with Iris.
The only reason Celeste could stop by now was due to the restaurant’s annual pest treatment that closed it down for the day.
I couldn’t burden her with the knowledge of just how low my mother stooped.
“You trust me, right? So when I tell you that it’s past the point of no return, I need you to believe it.” Hopefully that satisfied her because I had no intent of airing last night’s events out loud.
She sighed, taking Iris from my arms to cuddle her.
Although I knew Celeste would never admit it, Iris’ resemblance to her dad, Wesley, acted like a phantom.
Even I missed Wes, and I didn’t have a baby with him.
Celeste never told me exactly what happened or why he left, only that she never wanted to see him again.
Those words sounded a lot like they came from Desiree’s mouth, but it was no secret that I didn’t like her stepmother. Nobody in River’s Run did.
“Did I tell you that Desiree fired Marla? Said she didn’t need Marla’s two cents’ worth on all the restaurant’s business.
” Tears welled in her eyes and Celeste pulled her daughter closer.
Marla was like a mother to Celeste, being her real mom’s best friend and all.
Once her mom died and Celeste’s dad was left to run the restaurant by himself, Marla stepped in, giving up her job at the canning factory to fill in the gaps Rachel Hendricks left.
For Desiree to fire Marla…that wouldn’t sit well with any of the folks in River’s Run.
“I guess Desiree better be ready for all the hate coming her way,” I added thoughtfully. I didn’t know how The Comfy Cushion, their restaurant, could survive without Marla.
“Marla said something about the business space underneath her apartment being available. I think she might open a bakery or something. You know how good her sweets are,” Celeste commented.
“Maybe she would let you stay with her if you were willing to help out with the rent. That would at least give you some time to get things straightened out.”
It certainly wasn’t a bad idea. Marla should go down in history as the prime example of tough love, but she always made me feel welcomed and cared for. Certainly more than Diana Eaton ever did.
“I’ll consider it,” I hedged. “But the bottom line is, I have to get out of this place. I can’t live here anymore.”
Celeste plopped Iris down on the floor and handed the girl a doll. “Then I better help you pack or you’re gonna be here all day.”
I grinned at her. “And this is why I love you.”
She gave me a flash of her signature soft smile. “Hand me a garbage bag. I’m gonna try to tackle your desk.”
I grimaced. “Don’t judge me for all the yearbook photos with hearts drawn in.”
Celeste rolled her eyes. “Boy crazy Maggie. I know!”
My heart felt hollow to hear her call me that, but I kept the grin plastered to my face. Being “boy crazy,” as she called it, never led to anything more than heartache. And that organ can only be broken so many times before it gives up altogether.