59. Rosie
Chapter 59
Rosie
E ven dressed in a ballgown, a gaudy tiara on her head, with a saccharine smile, Marigold can’t hide the ugliness in her heart. The rotten seeps through. Her float is several ahead of ours in the loading area, all of the trucks lined up as we wait to start, and I keep watching her out of the corner of my eye.
When I saw what she had done, that sixteen-year-old part of me was devastated by her hatred, by the things she wrote and my fears that others share her opinion. Teenage me was begging me to make myself small, to run. But I chose not to listen to my fear and chose instead to focus on my bonds.
My pack was an anchor, my bonds giving me solid focal points. They helped me stay steady and reminded me that I’m worthy of love and good things. That gave me the strength to see Marigold’s actions for what they are—a desperate attempt to make herself feel better. She wanted the float to remind me that I’m busted up, ugly, and broken, but she doesn’t get to define me or control me.
The look on her face when she saw us pull up with our float was priceless. She’d counted us out, but the joke’s on her. This new design might be better than the first. I kept the BUSTED and then went wild with the black paint. Now, it looks as if flowers are bursting from the mud of a haunted, decaying meadow. It makes spring growth look like a violent reckoning.
Nash lifts his chin toward Main Street, and I see Quinn wheeling Grandma Lily down the sidewalk among the crowd at the blocked-off end. Grandma Lily is wearing the gown I altered for the occasion. It’s one of her courting gowns, and it goes well with the flirting look she’s giving Mr. Blakey walking beside them.
I was starting to worry they’d gotten lost or that it was too much for Grandma’s energy level today, but she seems strong and more like herself than she has in weeks.
Leaning across the truck, I kiss just above Nash’s beard, nuzzling my cheek against him for a moment. “I’m going to the crowd to watch with Quinn. Everything good?”
His eyes flick across my face, and he gives me a smile that makes me worried about the effectiveness of my birth control.“Yeah, baby. We’ve got it. Meet you and Quinn after at Bambi’s.”
Dane hops out of the backseat, ducking in for a kiss before slipping into the front to ride with Nash.
I don’t even make it across the street before the commotion begins. It’s Marigold, so that’s not a surprise. She broke into the garage, and she’s not sixteen anymore. Shit has real consequences, and I guess the sheriff decided not to wait.
Turning back to the truck, I eye my alphas suspiciously. “Did you guys know they were gonna do it here?”
Nash shrugs through the open window. “Don’t ask me. I’m a good boy.”
I’m sure my look says the exact opposite.
He laughs, slipping his sunglasses down. Beside him, Dane studiously ignores me.
“Dane?”’
His gaze snaps to mine, the intensity there stealing my breath. “She keeps trying to hurt you, sweetheart. I want to—” He takes a deep breath and looks away. “The least we could do is make sure everyone sees her for exactly who she is.”
I don’t know what that means, but I get distracted when I see his father on the curb near the intersection on Main Street, walking this way with Bambi. “Well damn.”
I hurry across the street to join Quinn and Grandma Lily, wondering what everyone is up to.
Grandma Lily covers her face with her hand, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Good to see you, sugar. I’m sorry about your float. Marigold has needed a moment with the law for a spell,” she says, shaking her head.
Quinn pulls my back to his chest, wrapping a hand around my middle and murmuring in my ear, “How are you holding up?”
“This wasn’t on my agenda for the morning, but I can’t say I’m hating it,” I admit.
My gaze stays on Marigold, who is still arguing with the deputies like an idiot. She resists arrest, and once the handcuffs come out, her pack abandons her to fend for herself.
Quinn kisses my neck as we watch my best friend march into the middle of the street. Bambi is in a flowing seventies gown and looks like a pink, flowery dream. She raises a megaphone, her voice cackling before she adjusts the settings.
Pointing at the clusterfuck situation with Marigold, she says, “Folks, give a round of applause for our fine deputies and their service to our town,” Bambi flirts with the crowd on the sidewalk, just as she does at her pack’s bar, until they give in and clap for her.
She stares at Marigold before dramatically spinning on the crowd and giving them a look that says, "Can you believe this bitch?” “And this, folks, is the face of the woman who broke in and tried to sabotage our store’s float because I refused to let her shop in my store. She used to bully most of the girls who work in our shop in high school and still tries even though we’re grown now. I don’t help bullies in my shop. You can never make them pretty. It’s unfair to the dresses.”
People on the streets laugh this time, and some even boo as Marigold gets carted over to the deputy’s cruiser.
“Remember, folks, busted bitches do it better.” She shimmies her chest before the crowd then hands the megaphone to the mayor, who looks as though he’s considering adding her to that cruiser.
People are taking shots of the whole scene with their phones until the mayor gets on the megaphone and directs traffic, the whole ordeal getting swallowed up by the marching band.
Bambi runs by us, waving and blowing kisses before she hops onto the float. Dane climbs into the back of the truck and starts the music.
His gaze shoots my way, and I shout, “What a show, Coach!”
The floats ahead of them move, and my flower-people on the float dance. The motorized wheels Nash rigged up twist and turn, making the flowers spin.Honestly, I’m proud of how the whole thing comes together. It was built by an entire community, and Marigold doesn’t have the power to diminish that.
People join the procession in the streets, dancing as kids race for the flower necklaces Bambi tosses into the crowd.
Quinn kisses my neck. “You wanna join them out there?”
I rub his forearm wrapped around my waist. “I really don’t.”
He laughs, the vibrations tickling my back. “Good, save your energy. We have plans for you tonight.”
I twist in his arms, narrowing my gaze. “I draw the real line at the high school reunion.”
Quinn rolls his eyes. “Please, like we would ever.”
“Is it a night out or in?” I ask.
“Definitely in. We’ve peopled enough this week that I may never people again.” He nips my neck over Dane’s bond bite, the edge of his thumb swiping over my nipple so he awakens Nash’s mark at the same time. “Besides, it’s game night.”
“But our game this week is canceled.”
“I bet you’d love to know what kind of game, but unfortunately, I can’t tell you,” he murmurs.
“Well, folks, after all that excitement of Marigold finally getting her due, I need lemonade, heavy on the vodka. Take me to that bar cart and let’s go find ourselves some good seats,” Grandma Lily says.
“It’s nine in the morning. I’ll get you lemonade, but skip the vodka and pain meds combo,” I say.
She sighs, looking at Mr. Blakey, who puts his hands up. “You all are no fun, but I guess I can be persuaded by a brownie.”
“Brownie it is!” Quinn says, amusedly looking between us.
We take her for treats, then we meet her friends in a shady spot to watch the rest of the parade. Still, I ask Quinn another question every few minutes, trying to guess what exactly they’re up to. He doesn’t budge but feeds me steady hints that build my excitement.
He’s going to turn this afternoon into another game. That realization fuels my curiosity instead of my apprehension. No matter what they have planned, I trust them.