16. Chapter 16
Kylie
"Achoo!"
The back of my nose continues to tingle. I close my eyes, preparing myself for the next sneeze, but it won't come. I didn't think joining Nic, Lauren, and Kieran for the autumn fair preparations would involve this much hay.
And apparently my nose and hay aren't friends. You learn something about yourself all the time, I guess.
"Whose idea was this again?" I grumble once my nose decides to relax, picking up another bale, carrying it over to where one of the booths will be. The weather today is beautiful. Blue skies, the occasional cotton candy cloud – it’s the perfect sweater weather. And my sweater is full of hay.
While we’re playing autumn décor fairies for the main square park, all the stores of Wayward Hollow have upped their decorations too. More leaf garlands. More pumpkins. Baskets filled with more pumpkins and apples. Sunflowers and wreaths, on every door, even Caleb’s.
"Ours!" Lauren shouts with a grin. When she sees me rub my nose, worry replaces it. "But if the hay is too much, you can help Kieran with the pumpkins."
I glance over to the other end of the town's main square, ignoring the chaos. As Kieran mentioned, it has to be a mess before we make it pretty. Half an hour ago, a pickup truck loaded to the brim with pumpkins arrived, and I heard another two are coming soon.
"Holy shit." My eyes widen at the mountain of pumpkins. When did those get here? "That's a lot of pumpkins."
"Don't worry." Nic nudges me with her elbow. "Some of them are for the pumpkin carving booth. Not all of them are décor."
"Okay." My shoulders sag in relief. "I'll see if I can give him a hand because..." I sneeze into my elbow crease again. "This is not for me."
"You were fine when we started." A little crease forms between Lauren's eyebrows. “I hope you can still visit the fair without sneeze attacks.”
"Well, walking past hay or looking at it from afar is a little different to carrying it around and just below my face. But just in case I’ll stock up on allergy pills, because after all this, I’m definitely not missing out on the fair."
"That’s the spirit." Nic shoots me a grin.
Abby loves the hay, though. She found a pile, declared it hers, and has been taking a nap in there for the past half hour while Nic, Lauren, and I carry bundles around the park for aesthetic distribution.
"Oh, hey." Kieran smiles at me as I approach.
"Can I help out here?" Another sneeze. “Hay isn’t for me.”
"Of course." He rubs his neck and looks around. "Um, the carving station will be over there." Kieran points toward a bench around fifty meters away from us. "How about you grab the smaller pumpkins and stack them there?"
“Because I'm a woman?” My eyebrow twitches. "I'll have you know I am so strong enough and totally capable of carrying all kinds of pumpkins."
Without a word, he heaves a bigger pumpkin into my arms and lets go. I almost let it fall to the ground. Fuck, that’s heavy.
"You were saying?" Schadenfreude pours from his every pore. Considering he carries these things one-armed, it’s sadly not even misplaced.
Nonetheless, I shoot him a glare. “Stick that glee where the sun doesn’t shine, Kieran.” He breaks into laughter, but shows mercy, and takes the pumpkin from my arms. With one hand. Poser.
"Strong and capable," I mumble under my breath as I trudge over to the second pickup truck. "Hey, Bobby."
He drove along in one of the pumpkin pick-ups and struggles a little to get out of the passenger seat.
The others introduced me to him at Caleb's last week. From what I understand, he's something of the town's grandpa. Everyone loves him, and especially Nic and Lauren regularly pester him for, preferably embarrassing, stories of a young Caleb.
"Hey, Kylie." He stretches his back once both his feet are on the ground. Then he points at the woman getting out of the driver’s seat. I’d estimate her to be in her fifties, her long brunette hair streaked with gray.
Her navy-blue hoodie is the same color as her car.
"This is Andrea. She owns the hotel. Andrea, this is Kylie. "
"It's so good to meet you." I extend my hand, but she goes for a hug.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here last week. Next time, I'll leave my key with this old guy." She lets me go and points at Bobby. "For emergencies, so don't hesitate to ring him awake."
"Well, I sure hope they won’t find more bones on my property to warrant kicking me out for a night." I giggle and make a vague gesture with my hand. Honestly, a part of me wants to thank her, because getting to know Erik made the entire hassle worth it. "But thank you so much, I appreciate it."
She clicks her tongue and waves me off. "Nothing to thank me for, dearie.
Now, I have to get to the hotel and prepare the rooms for the incoming tourism wave.
" She rolls her eyes. "Picky people, those town folks.
If they find one speck of dust, it's bad reviews all around.
I'll pick the car up in the evening. Does that work for you? "
"Um, sure," I answer, but it sounds more like a question. Let's hope I get it empty by evening, I guess.
“Great! Have fun!” Andrea pulls me into another hug, then crosses the street and disappears into her hotel. Bobby mumbles something about fresh pie and takes off towards Caleb’s.
Even though I’m carrying the smaller pumpkins, my arms hurt by the tenth trip between the car and where the pumpkin carving booth will be.
Lauren was right, though, I'm meeting what must be all of Wayward Hollow.
Courtney and Phil, who own the flower shop and brought bouquets for décor.
Andrea. Dimitri, a carpenter who lives just outside town and brought a bunch of tables, he made himself.
"And that's Harry," Kieran whispers and points at a gray-haired guy wearing a beige flannel shirt, standing aside with a clipboard in his hand.
"He's, well, not the mayor. I don't think Wayward Hollow has a mayor.
But he's the boss of some committee overseeing all of our fairs and festivals," he explains.
"Okay," I whisper, almost tripping on a stray pumpkin. Damn, those things are everywhere.
The set up is coming together so nicely. The area where the fair will be held is all but covered in hay, with the occasional hay bale stacked and decorated with pumpkins, flowers and more pumpkins.
A group of men who I assume are electricians due to their dark blue overalls, hang up string lights. Lauren mentioned earlier those will stay there until the Christmas market. They're also laying power lines to where I assume shops will need them at.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I set down the pumpkins I’m carrying and pull it out of my pocket.
It's my mom.
I don't even notice my face pulling into a grimace as I stare at it until Kieran breaks into laughter.
"Answer it." Lauren’s voice appears right next to my left ear. I startle and almost drop my phone. Where the hell did she come from? "Getting it over with is a lot more freeing than procrastinating."
"I'm not so sure."
“I am.” She pats my arm. “Trust me.”
The screen goes dark, long enough to let me take a deep breath. Then it lights right up again.
"Fuck."
"Come on, we'll leave you to it." Lauren links her arm with Kieran's and pulls him away to give me some space. I stare after them. Maybe she’s right. Sucking in a deep breath, I close my eyes to brace for the emotional impact and take the call.
"Hi, Mom."
"Have you finally come to your senses?"
I sit down on one of the hay bales and extend my legs. We’ve been out here for hours at this point and my feet are starting to hurt.
"What a greeting."
Before I can get another word in, she already breaks into her probably well-practiced rant, completely ignoring my sarcastic reply.
"You will end up in hell if you go through with this divorce. And nobody, I repeat, nobody, will be able to save your soul. Are you okay with that, Kylie? Spending eternity in hell?"
I let her talk for another five minutes and stare at the clock in the middle of the main square, watching the minutes pass. It’s almost hypnotic.
"Mother,” I interrupt her by the time she mumbles about how disappointed Jesus would be in me.
“This may come as a shock to you, but I have lied before in my life.
I have been greedy. I'm pretty sure when I was five, I stole a pack of bubblegum from the store.
I wear garments of different fabrics. And Zach and I had sex before we got married.
If I go to hell, the divorce will only be one of many reasons. "
"But you—" She sputters. I let out an exhausted sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.
"I love you, Mom. But the divorce is through. It's done. If I go to hell, so be it."
She breaks into sobs, dramatic enough to make me roll my eyes and start plucking hay straws off my sweatshirt. "I can't believe you're doing this to me."
Yeah. Clearly, I decided to end my marriage for the sole reason of making her panic about what happens to me after I die. Not because I’m more interested in being happy during, well, the part before death.
"I'm not, though?" My jaw tightens, and I cross my arms in front of my chest as if to protect my heart from her words. I’ve long stopped questioning her logic and how she manages to make herself the victim of any situation, however, it still hurts.
"I can't support this."
"I know.” My sigh is so heavy it blows hay straws off my sleeve. I catch one, rolling it between my fingers. “Which is why I never asked you to. I asked you to accept it." I remain silent, waiting for her answer.
"I don't even know who you are anymore."
"Well, that might make two of us." I smile, but it's a bitter one. "This is the last time we're having this conversation, mother. The next time you mention my soul, heaven or hell or God in any variation, I will hang up."
"Oh, you poor soul—"
"And that will do it. Have a good day, Mom."
I lower the phone away from my face and hang up.
I love my mom. I really do. But ever since she fell into a religious hole three years ago, it's getting harder and harder to talk and connect with her. Especially with the kind of hypocrisy she displays, being on husband number three and all.
Ultimately, though, it's time to put myself first and protect my peace.
I let my eyes wander over the park. The people standing in groups, probably gossiping. Lauren is throwing a handful of hay at Kieran, who’s cackling as he’s running away from her.
This must be as close to peace as it gets.