Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The Ranch
“Okay,” Wyn said, her face appearing on the screen. “I’m here.”
Hadley, Salem and I were sitting in Salem’s childhood bedroom which she now shared with her fiancé.
It had become clear that a man lived there. A very masculine man at that. Leather belts with large buckles. The top of the dresser riddled with pocket flashlights, a couple of pocketknives, a bottle of woodsy cologne.
“I think Poet should start first,” Hadley said. “She has the most news.”
“And she’s been keeping it a secret,” Salem said. “No matter how much we push her, she wouldn’t spill the beans.”
“She’s drinking a mocktail,” Wyn said with a laugh. “You gotta get her tipsy.”
“I’m drinking a mocktail out of solidarity for my pregnant friends,” I quipped. “Can I talk now?”
“You have the floor,” Hadley said.
I took a deep breath. “I want to open a bookstore.”
The three of them were silent as I plowed on.
“But not just a bookstore. A third space.”
“So, a coffee shop?” Wyn asked.
I shook my head. “No. No coffee. I don’t need to serve coffee.
There’s a bakery in town that does that already.
But I want a place where people of all ages feel comfortable being.
I went to the town library and the adult fiction section is a joke.
I want a bookstore that feels like our charcuterie nights.
Where friends can gather and talk about books and boys.
Sit on comfy couches and gossip and read.
But I want to sell locally sourced things, too.
Things that are native to Huckleberry Hill.
Like huckleberry preserves that Muddy makes, or Lucy’s elk sausage sticks. ”
I pushed up my glasses and continued.
“They can grab their pastries and coffee from Sweet Teeth and then come in and sit and browse. Maybe a few nights a week I can do some sort of event. Books and crafts. Something like that. I just want people to have a place to spend time that isn’t work or home. A place to build community.”
I let out a breath.
“Okay, that’s my vision as it stands. What do you think?”
Wyn sighed. “I think I’ll never see you again because that is the perfect thing for you to do.”
I smiled. “Really?”
“Really,” Wyn said.
“Hadley? Salem?” I asked, looking at them.
“Well of course you’re opening a cozy bookstore, you dingus.” Salem laughed. “It’s exactly what Huckleberry Hill needs.”
“I totally agree. It’s about to become my new favorite place,” Hadley said.
Excitement—and tears—bubbled up inside me. I loved that I had my best friends’ support.
“Did you tell Brooks?” Wyn asked.
I paused and then nodded.
“He knew before us?” Salem asked.
I nodded again.
She sighed. “Yeah. This is the real deal. Okay. I’m sold.”
“Have you talked to Lucy about renting the vacant storefront?” Hadley asked.
“Not yet,” I said with a small smile. “But I have a feeling she won’t be surprised when I ask. Muddy said Lucy’s been waiting for the right business for the space. I just hope she thinks my idea is the right one . . .”
“That Muddy,” Wyn said with a laugh. “She’s like an old Greek Goddess who nudges humans in the right direction to finally fulfill their destiny.”
“Don’t say old too loud,” Salem warned.
Wyn snorted. “That woman is going to outlive us all.”
“You’re next you know,” Hadley said to Wyn. “She’s going to fix your life.”
“My life doesn’t need fixing,” Wyn stated.
“Just you wait,” Salem said, a gleam of knowing in her eyes. “Just you friggin’ wait.”
Wyn sighed. “So does that mean I should pack up your stuff and send it to you?”
I blinked. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“I’m going to move into the Carrington’s penthouse,” Wyn said slowly. “I think it’s time.”
“No more apartment?” I asked.
“No more apartment,” Wyn said. “The three of you are there now. And it’s just me and I’m hardly at the apartment as it is. This place just isn’t the same without you three. It’s time to let it go.”
“Truly the end of an era,” Salem murmured.
“I have a lot of fond memories in that apartment,” Hadley said softly.
“Nothing lasts forever,” Wyn said, her jaw clenching. She met my gaze. “Does it?”
I shook my head. “No. It doesn’t.”
“You tell your grandfather your life plan yet?” Wyn asked.
Cold terror spread through my bones. “No. I haven’t told him. This all came together pretty fast.”
Sadness quickly engulfed my chest.
“He’ll understand,” Wyn said, her tone gentle. “He wants you to be happy.”
“He also wants me to fly to England and bash around Europe with him while he’s on sabbatical,” I said. “I can’t believe I’m giving that up.”
“But look at what you’re gaining,” Salem said. “I’ve never seen you this happy, Poet. This happy and this sure of what you want.”
“I thought my life was ending when I quit my job,” I said with a chuckle. “Turned out it was just the beginning.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Muddy called from downstairs.
“Time to eat,” Hadley said.
“Good, I’m starving,” Salem said.
“You guys go,” I said. “I’ll be down in a second.”
The two of them got up off the bed—Salem had to help Hadley—and they toddled out of the room.
Salem closed the door behind her.
I looked at Wyn’s face on the screen. “This is the right choice, right?”
“Are you actually asking me?” Wyn said with a wry grin. “Don’t you trust your own judgement?”
“Yes . . . but no, but yes?”
She smiled but then it dimmed. “Hey, if I admit something to you, will you promise not to hold it over me.”
“Of course,” I said.
“I’m insanely jealous of you.”
“Jealous. Of me? Why?”
“Why? What do you mean why? You’re doing something so cool. So unique. Your eyes lit up in a way I’ve never seen from you. Not even when you started the publishing gig and thought it was going to be this great, majestic thing. I think you quitting that job was the best thing ever.”
I laughed. “Yeah. I think you might be right.”
“I’m jealous of the cowboy thing too,” she said wistfully. “All three of you are living a different life. Just don’t forget about me. Okay?”
“Impossible,” I said, my throat constricting. “It’s still the four of us. It will always be the four of us.”
“It’s hard to be the four of us when three of you are there and I’m here,” she pointed out.
“You’ll be out here soon,” I reminded her. “And everything will be the same.”
“It’ll never be the same.” She sighed. “Fucking love. Ruins everything.”
“Love you, Viking.”
“Love you too, fairy princess.”
I smiled and then I hung up with her. Despite my joy and excitement, it was tarnished with the tiniest bit of sadness.
Wyn was right; we’d never have those random nights where the four of us were all at home at the same time. Where we’d crack open a bottle of Prosecco and make a charcuterie board and read tarot cards and talk about our dreams.
But here I was. An honorary family member about to have dinner with the Powells, with my cowboy boyfriend who’d sit beside me.
My New York life already felt like it belonged to someone else. How was that possible?
I went to the bathroom to wash my face and pull myself together. And then I went downstairs for dinner.