Chapter 3
Fern goes home.
Passing Reads & Roasts at a crawl, Fern peered into the darkened second-floor windows of the bookstore and coffee shop before turning into the parking lot out back.
Her apartment, comped by the town as a thank you for moving to such a rural area, sat upstairs at the opposite end of the building.
Olivia had stayed in the same studio last fall before she moved in with Ben.
And while Liv had taken the place furnished, Fern couldn’t bear to part with her things.
She’d only accepted a complimentary bed. Her old mattress sucked.
The Tomlinsons, her new landlords, were closing up shop for the night, and Anita, with her long brown braid, swayed over to introduce herself and hand off the keys with some day-old baked goods.
She and her husband offered to stay and help, but Fern declined with a smile.
Olivia may have left, sick of waiting, but she’d texted before disappearing with an assurance she’d be back—with reinforcements.
Sitting on the roof of her car, Fern enjoyed a cold croissant and the quiet night until a white Jeep rolled into the lot and Liv, Ben, and a friend hopped out.
“Livvy!” Fern yelled, sliding down her windshield.
“Lovey!” Liv raced across the parking lot.
Olivia wrapped her in a warm embrace and only grumbled a little when Fern insisted on rubbing her still-invisible pregnant belly.
Then Fern finally, officially, met Noa, one of Liv’s new friends. Petite, with welcoming almond eyes and sleek black hair, she bounded over on Liv’s heels, bouncing off the non-existent walls as they were introduced.
“Hug? I feel like we’re already friends. Liv’s told me so much about you, and I know we’re going to get along.”
“Oh my god, yes, please,” Fern agreed, throwing her arms around her first new friend in town.
One warm welcome later, they got to it. Unloading her trailer took less than two hours with the four of them working together, then Ben left with Noa, while Liv stuck around to catch up and help Fern unpack.
The studio was perfect, small and easy to keep clean. It featured a kitchen area across from the door, a living room corner down to her left, and the bed nook across from that. It was all one cozy space… plus the separate bathroom.
She couldn’t wait to settle in—and maybe paint the walls something other than… inoffensive tan.
Fern flapped open her vibrant paisley comforter a few minutes into the great unpack-a-thon. “Texting your sweetheart? Did you guys bang on this bed?”
“That’s a new mattress,” Liv said offhandedly as she sent off another message before waving her phone in the air. “It’s Ben and Fitz. He was checking up on you.”
“Ben was?”
“No, Elliott.”
“What?” The blanket fluttered haphazardly into position—she’d get that in a minute. Turning, Fern found Liv sitting on an orange kitchen chair, a sparkle in her warm brown eyes. “What?”
Liv lifted her brows.
“He’s hot,” Fern blurted. “Like—exactly my type looks-wise. But he’s kind of weird.
” And way too established, too much of a real adult with his home and his art studio and plot of land carved out of the forest. “Will you help me make the bed? I need to dump out my clothes. What’s the weather supposed to be tomorrow?
I’ll probably still be unpacking. Is there an air conditioner in here?
Will I need it when it gets warmer? Is this peak heat, or will it get hotter in August? ”
Olivia cleared her throat and patted the end of the bed, reminding Fern she’d just asked for help making it.
“How?” Liv asked.
“How what?” Fern smoothed her corner of the rainbow comforter, her fingertip lingering on a blue paisley.
“How was he weird?”
“I asked you a lot of important questions. You’re just going to ignore them?”
Liv pursed her lips. “Name one.”
“Name one what?”
When Olivia laughed, her shoulder-length mass of curls bounced. “Name one of the important questions you just asked me.”
“I—” Sucking her teeth, Fern snatched her first box, ripped it open, and dumped it on the freshly made bed. The clothes weren’t organized when they went in, and she was annoyed at her past-self for that oversight.
“How was Fitz weird?”
“Just standoffish,” she muttered, starting a smaller pile for her shirts.
“How?”
“Stop pushing me!”
Liv grinned, and Fern rolled her eyes. “You want him.”
“I don’t want him, I… I want to be him?”
“Okay. Not what I expected. How?”
“I’m jealous of him or not good enough for him or something.”
“I’m going to need you to explain,” Liv said as she pulled over a pile of jeans and started turning them right side out.
“First of all, he was really weird when I ended up in his driveway. Let that be known. But he also has what I want for myself—his house, his studio, his shop, his life. He’s an artist with his own business to live off of. I want that.”
“And you’ll have that.” Liv snapped a pant leg. “Why do you think you’re not good enough?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did.”
Fern glowered overdramatically. “I’m just a mess. Had a stupid call with my mom. Leave me alone.”
Liv laughed at her and shook her head. “I’m sorry, lovey. Ignore your mom.”
“I’m trying.”
“So, Fitz has the life you want, and he was standoffish when you pulled up?”
“Yeah. That’s why I said ‘not good enough.’ He clearly doesn’t like me and wanted me gone. Remember he said I was too chatty on that call? I can want his life while not wanting him, Livvy.”
Olivia’s voice lifted as she made a little “Hmm” sound.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just do me a favor, next time you see him, give him a chance? He’s chill. You’re chill. I think you have a lot in common.”
“Mhm,” Fern agreed dismissively.
“Do you want me to come back here in the morning? We could grab breakfast downstairs and go check out the salon?”
“No, Mama, you sleep in,” Fern said with a wink at her pregnant best friend.
Liv scowled, angrily folding another pair of pants.
She hated being called Mama and spent an hour complaining to Fern and their friend Renata about it just last week.
The best part was she was only about ten weeks into the whole shebang.
Fern was going to annoy her so much over the coming months. She couldn’t wait.
“I have to take back my U-Haul in the morning, and I promised Ren I’d drive by the place her parents are renting.”
“Renting? When they come up for her wedding?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re not staying in town?”
“Only the night of. But you know how they are. So hoity-toity. They got some big house out in the big town for the days sandwiching the event.”
“How supportive of them,” Olivia said sarcastically, digging into a box full of kitchen gadgets before carrying it away. “Have you gotten your bridesmaid dress?”
“Yeah. It’s in here somewhere. Do you have a steamer? I think it’s going to be bunchy.”
“Wrinkled?”
“Bunchy sounds better. Anyway, after I drop off the trailer, I’m meeting Rosalind at the salon.
Then I’ll get back to this.” Now in the middle of the room, Fern threw her arms wide and spun in a circle, gesturing broadly at the mess of futon pieces, her empty bookshelf, a stray side table, and at least twenty boxes. She had way too much shit.
“How about dinner, our house, tomorrow? A little welcome party for you?”
“For me?” She wiggled her shoulders and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Absolutely.”
“Perfect.” Liv leaned her back against the counter and smiled softly. “I’m glad you’re here. You’re going to love it.”
Dancing around the room, Fern opened the windows on both walls, letting a warm cross breeze through the screens. “I hope so. It seems like my speed, more than the city. But Liv, there’s no pizza place.”
“I know, but Beauchamp’s has it, and we all cook. Pizzalessness aside, it’s great here. It’s blissful.” Liv’s soft brown hands cupped her still-flat stomach as she smiled down at her unborn child.
“I’ll take a little of that bliss, please.” She grinned until Olivia eventually looked up and met her smile with a dazed one of her own. “What do I actually need to know, Liv? I know the shop downstairs will feed me—no free books, right?”
“No free books. You’ll have to buy those.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I know the salon’s next door. I know you work right there.” Pointing out the windows by the living area, she identified the schoolhouse where Liv taught all twelve of the town’s kids. “But what else should I know? Who do I need to meet? Where should I go?”
Liv grinned. “You know what you need to. There are two hundred and fifty people here, that’s it.
It’s not a huge place. You’ll learn your way around.
You’ve met Able, Fitz, and Noa, our closest friends.
You’ve met Anita and Dave, your landlords, they’ll take care of you.
You’ll meet Ros and Bruce tomorrow—at least Ros—at the salon. You’re going to be just fine.”
“Okay. If the good people will find me, who and what do I need to avoid?”
“Nothing, just enjoy the town. I’m sure everyone knows you’re here by this point. They’ll all want to meet the newcomer."
Fern checked the time. “I’ve been here less than three hours.”
“Oh, they definitely know you’re here. You can expect a lot of haircuts this week, probably an inordinate number of blowouts for those who don’t need a trim.”
Chuckling, she shoved her pants into an unhoused drawer, then slotted the drawer into her dresser—a pain in the ass, and she should’ve done it the opposite way around.
They chatted a while longer about mundane shit, like how to get to the grocery store, before Ben swung back to pick up Liv, and Fern was left alone in her new home for the first time.
The sounds of the late-July night wafted in: crickets and other noisy insects, a distant howl—coyotes probably—and children’s laughter from somewhere far off.
There were no car horns, no squealing brakes, no swearing pedestrians, just peace, tranquility, and slow living.
Her mom would hate it here. But if Fern was about to bring in as many customers as Liv expected, Mom would have to swallow her judgment of Fern for “moving away from opportunity.”
Thank god she’d met Ren and Liv during her year and a half in college. Without their friendship over the past decade, her mom surely would’ve driven her to move a lot farther than six hours away.
She and Olivia were roommates freshman year, with Ren right across the hall.
Both Liv and Ren majored in education and went on to become teachers.
Fern started as an accounting major, switched to business, hated it all, and dropped out to pursue her cosmetology license.
She’d hidden the dropping out from her mom for a solid year and a half, but got caught the summer after what should’ve been her junior year.
Then ten years ticked by, full of quiet, sometimes not so quiet, judgment from Mom, judgment from salon owners from whom she rented chairs, judgment from more successful friends, from partners who thought her work was less-than because it didn’t involve business casual and a veneered desk.
Her last role at A Cut Above came with one too many sexist comments from the male owner.
When she was denied the opportunity to add mani/pedi work to her repertoire, Fern knew it was time to move on.
Olivia and Renata never judged her for her choices—or if they did, they didn’t tell her. Since Ren was staying in the city with her soon-to-be husband, when Fern needed to refresh her life, she figured she’d go where Liv had already tested the waters and found them perfect for diving in.
So, here she was. Sure, she’d stubbed her toe the minute she leapt… but it wasn’t too painful, just strange. Elliott was standoffish, but he wasn’t that bad, just a sharp pebble, not a big stone. Maybe she could give him another shot, like Liv suggested.
On second thought, maybe she wouldn’t give him another chance. She didn’t need her feelings hurt any more.
Sighing, Fern reminded herself that it didn’t matter either way. He wasn’t going to put a damper on her move.
She was here to focus on herself, on finding a pace she liked to live at in a place where she wanted to settle. This was her time—not time to give to some stranger who growled at her—even if he did check to make sure she made it to her new home safely.
With a huff and a shake of her head, she put him firmly out of her thoughts and set off on a mission to find her books within the boxes. Organizing them always cleared her mind.