Chapter 2
MAISEY
I have been a lot of places in the last ten years. Austria, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Peru, Nicaragua—that last one being a major highlight—but there is really only one place I want to be right now. A place I never in a million years thought I’d miss so much.
Hickory Hills, Georgia.
Of all the map dots, in all the world, it’s this one. A town of a few thousand people, forty minutes from the interstate. How’s that for ironic?
Yet, it’s somehow the only place I want to be. The place my heart has been longing for. Craving. Turns out Dorothy was on to something with that whole there’s no place like home thing.
A home that hasn’t changed one bit.
Slamming the door of my rental car behind me, I straighten out my sundress, taking a moment to let my surroundings settle around me.
The shared parking lot between Hickory Hills Baptist Church and the Hickory Hills Town Library is full of cars and trucks that I don’t recognize immediately, yet still look so familiar that I bet I could guess who they all belong to.
Both the church and the library look exactly the same as they did when I left, although there’s an addition to the library that looks fairly new. So maybe some things do change.
I smile to myself, slinking across the parking lot to head inside. I’m halfway up the wide stone steps that lead to the front doors, and a small wave of panic hits me. On the other side of these doors is my past. Maybe my future too. But definitely my past.
One thing is for sure—being back in Hickory Hills is not a simple thing. It’s been a long, long time since I set foot across the town line. Since I packed up what I could in a rucksack and hightailed it off on a mission to see the world.
But if there was anything that was going to bring me back here, it was my cousin Dolly’s wedding. Well, that and the other thing. But outwardly, Dolly’s wedding.
Which is happening just inside this church. The one I need to walk inside. I simply need to remember to breathe.
That’s it. Breathing. Breathing is good.
Breathing is what I tell my patients to do all the time. Inhale deeply, and then let it all out, slowly, until there is nothing left in your lungs. Then repeat.
Alright, here goes.
“Maisey Margaret Phillips!”
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
I’m not a full two steps inside the church and I am already being triple named.
By quite possibly the worst person in the world too.
This is probably God smiting me for not coming back to visit my mama for who knows how many Christmases and Easters, and I’m not saying I’m perfect, but for the love, do I really deserve this?
“Aunt Hattie,” I greet, putting on my very best Southern manners and turning on my heel to change direction and head toward her.
As one of my father’s older sisters, I know that Hattie Burch is family and therefore I will treat her with respect.
That said, she is also something else. A sharp-tongued busybody, she has been the go-to for town gossip for years and has no problem inserting herself into the lives of others, telling them exactly how they should be living it.
Even from afar she’s tried to interfere with my life, emailing me articles and websites she finds about safety risks in different countries and advising why it “would not be wise to visit.”
“What are you doing here?” she asks, her question coming out more like an accusation rather than actually being happy to see me.
Good to see you too, Aunt Hattie…
“I was invited?”
She huffs, air puffing out of her nostrils like a dragon. “But you RSVP’d no.”
“My schedule changed. The network of hospitals I was working in down in Nicaragua didn’t renew their contract with my agency, so—”
“So you were fired?”
I close my eyes, wondering if I count to ten whether it will stop me from strangling the old bat.
“That’s not how being a traveling nurse works, Aunt Hattie. Especially on the international level. The hospitals didn’t renew the contract with the agency, so that contract ended. I’m still employed with the agency, just in between contracts.”
“Dress it up however you want, young lady. You lost your job.”
Well, this has been a very uplifting and life-affirming few minutes. Time to go find my parents. At least they’ll be happy to see me.
“Does the bride know you’re coming? It’s rude to show up to a wedding unannounced.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, upping my patience count to twenty.
“Nope, it’s a surprise,” I say. My aunt opens her mouth to respond, but I keep talking, not letting her get there. “She told me when I sent my regrets a couple of months ago that if anything changed, I was welcome to come, even if it was last minute, so I know she’ll be okay with me being here.”
There, that should put that matter to bed.
The doors open again, and we both pause as Judge Robinson and his wife walk in.
I expect them to stop and chat—no doubt making a comment about how long it’s been since they’ve seen me—but they simply give us a nod and keep moving toward the sanctuary.
Damn, the respite would have been nice. Heck, that might have even been the chance at the escape I needed.
“So you lost your job and slink back to town unannounced, just to show up at a wedding unaccounted for?” Pursing her lips, she gives me the most judgmental once-over I’ve ever received.
Contestants at the Westminster Dog Show are scrutinized less.
“I know you have this whole free spirit thing going, but manners are still a thing, Maisey.”
“Dolly’s wedding is a pretty big deal and—”
“You weren’t here for the last one,” she cuts me off.
You know, I’m starting to think that counting to one hundred isn’t even going to be enough at this point.
“True, but this is the real one,” I say, forcing a smile. “No one actually wanted to see her marry Jeff. Dolly and Hux, though? That’s different. Plus, Grandma Amelia’s hundredth birthday is next month, and there is really no missing that.”
Take that, Aunt Hattie. Two damn good reasons for me to be back. Spread those around town.
Let’s not lie here; that’s what she’s really after—the inside knowledge so that when word gets out, she’s the one everyone calls and asks. A master class in gossipmongering.
I’m not letting her in on the real reason I’m here. The secret that I’m keeping.
That I’m here to collect.
To make good on a deal I made twenty years ago.
A pact sealed with blood—okay, ketchup, because even thirteen-year-old Maisey was concerned about blood-borne pathogens—between two people who were so intertwined they couldn’t imagine their lives without each other.
Or well, two kids who were innocent enough to not be able to picture past their sixteenth birthdays and the idea of twenty years in the future—and ever being that “old”—was an impossibility.
The deal was simple. Classic. A tale as old as time. If we’re not married in twenty years—by our thirty-fourth birthdays—we marry each other.
I turn thirty-four next month, while his is later this summer.
As fate would have it, I’m single. So is he.
If that’s not the universe telling us something, I don’t know what is.
Especially after the abrupt end to my contract and the expiration of my work visa with it. Two things that are crucial for an international traveling nurse.
“Mother will be happy to see you.”
Oh my stars, Hattie Burch just said something nice. Okay, she said something factual. But it was said without her normal tone, so I’ll take it. Seriously, I don’t know how Dolly and Emily do this every day.
“Speaking of mothers, I should go find mine. If you’ll excuse me…”
With a nod, I’m off, my patience and manners all used up. I hear the creak of the doors as I move, leading me to believe she’s about to find someone else to sink her teeth into.
Entering the sanctuary, it takes me a second to locate my mother, an internal groan releasing when I spot her strawberry blonde bob. She’s all the way up front, and I can feel each new set of eyes land on me as I make my way to her.
Ahhh, small towns.
“Hey there, darlin’, you made it on time,” Mama greets, scooting into the pew to make room for me. “I was starting to get worried.”
“Weekend traffic through Macon hasn’t changed,” I lament. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He’s escorting your grandmother down the aisle.
Originally it was going to be Landon Noble, since he’s best man, but after she slipped last month at the Southern Brothers St. Paddy’s party, Landon told your daddy he thought it would be a better idea if he escorted her, thinking she might be more at ease, and therefore steady on her feet, with him. ”
I smile, my heart squeezing at my father’s second-in-command at the fire department caring enough for my family that he would think of such a thing.
Landon has been the assistant fire chief for what feels like forever, and when my father finally retires, will step into the role as the head of the fire department with ease.
“That’s so sweet.”
“Landon grew up good,” Mama comments, giving me a little nudge, and a not-so-subtle eyebrow waggle. “He’s still very shy and quiet, but he’s as steady and sweet as they come.”
Got it, Mama…
I nod, letting her commentary die. As sure as I am that Landon is all those things, he’s not the one who I see when I close my eyes. The one who makes my heart skip a beat if I come across a patient with the same name. He who I’ve measured all others against.
Spoiler alert—they’ve all come up short.