Chapter 2
Magnolia
The sounds of boots on the gravel were hard to ignore, but I kept my gaze toward the ocean. Maybe, just maybe, it was someone I didn’t know, and they wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t acknowledge them. Wishful thinking.
“Magnolia?” A familiar honey voice reached my ears. Lori.
I could no longer hear her shoes hitting the gravel, so I knew she stopped before she reached the beginning of the dock.
Even hearing her voice stung. I knew this was inevitable; I just wish I had more time. More time to reinforce those walls I put up eight years ago because even the sound of her voice had them temporarily cracking.
The stabbing pain in my chest was so prominent, I raised my palm to try to rub it out, as if it were a physical assault instead of an emotional one. I couldn’t just ignore her, that would be rude, and she had reached out over the years. I know her and my dad kept in touch, and she was probably just doing her due diligence by checking in with me. The sun was close to setting anyway, and I had yet to go inside.
“Lori, it’s nice to see you.” I stood and turned around to face her. I started to walk to the beginning of the dock where she stood, keeping my mask firmly in place the closer I got to her. She had aged, but she was still gorgeous with her light gray eyes and light brown hair, only a dusting of gray was sprinkled through. She was tall—well, taller than I was, anyway.
She pulled me into a fierce hug, and I couldn’t help as my body tensed up. Before I could fake it and return the hug, she stepped back but kept her arms on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but recoil at her perusal.
“Magnolia, it’s just so good to see you.” She was fighting emotions, so much I could tell, her tears were in full display. “You grew up so well. You look so much like Miranda, it’s almost shocking,” she said, choking on her words.
I supposed she was right. I was still very curvy—I’d never fit in any jeans smaller than a size six—but my body was toned, thanks to my job as a veterinarian, which was physically demanding.
In Iowa, a lot of our work came from cattle, which kept me in shape whether I wanted to be or not. My hair fell in long, soft brown waves to the middle of my back, my green eyes were light. My ex-boyfriend had once compared me to a Marilyn Monroe meets Scarlett Johanssen wrapped in scrubs. I’m sure he just wanted to get laid, and with that comment, he did. I might not be the most emotional, but a girl had needs.
“Thank you, Lori. It’s nice to see you as well.” I kept my tone as light as possible, but I wanted to keep the distance firmly in place.
“You’ve changed,” she said, studying me more closely. Lori was always good at reading my emotions. She always used to joke about me wearing my expressions on my face and heart on my sleeve for the world to see.
Not anymore.
“Eight years will do that to you…how'd you know I was back?” I wanted to steer the conversation in literally any other direction.
“Jim down at the Pump and Dump said he could have sworn he saw Miranda from her college days, said it about gave him a heart attack. He called me, swearing up and down that Miranda’s ghost was in town…you know how he drinks,” she said with a smile.
Some things never changed, but that explained the emotions playing over Lori’s face. I reminded her of her dead best friend.
“Ah, I forgot the fun a small town can bring.” There was no humor, no emotion in my voice, and that made Lori’s perusal of me continue. I think a part of her wanted to poke and prod at my walls, but something in my face told her I wouldn’t be receptive to that at all.
“Listen…I came here to talk, but it’s clear you don’t want that. I don’t know what happened all those years ago, all I know is that one day the girl I considered a daughter was gone. I would bet my bottom dollar that Sloan had something to do with it.” I winced at the mention of his name. I hadn’t heard it out loud in a long time; Lexie and I didn’t speak of him, and if we did, we called him he who must not be named .
“Yeah, I figured a mother’s intuition is never wrong. Did you find out about Cassie?”
I didn’t want to have this conversation, I wasn’t ready.
“Look, Lori. I don’t mean to be crass, but now really isn’t a good time. It’s good to see you, but I’ll swing by before I leave town.”
The look on her face was almost as if I had struck her, and the guilt of that look almost had me inviting her in for tea, but I held my ground.
“Leave town?”
“Yes, I have a job back in Iowa. I’m only here for two weeks to settle my dad’s estate and sell the house.”
“You’re selling?” she whispered.
“Yes, there is nothing here for me anymore. Nothing but memories and pain.” The last part slipped out. I could tell she was about to hug me again but before that happened, I stepped around her and kept walking toward the main entrance of the house. I could tell she was stunned at the lack of emotional response.
“Take care of yourself, Lori.” I gave a backward wave without even glancing back to see if she was making her way back to her vehicle.
I grabbed the key from the envelope I had sat on the roof of my car and let myself into the house I wanted nothing to do with.