Chapter 29 Brynn #2
He propped his camera onto his shoulder as I followed him through the door and nearly jumped out of my skin when we were greeted by a roomful of cheering and smiling citizens of Adelaide Springs.
Fenton Norris was the one on the stage singing John Denver this time, so my eyes immediately began searching for Sebastian.
That’s when I noticed the “Welcome Home” sign over the bar and balloons spread throughout the space, mostly tied to chairs except for a few helium escapees bouncing against the ceiling.
“What in the world?” I asked aloud.
Laila was the first to run over to me. Bounce, more like. Laila just tended to bounce everywhere she went. Just as she got
to me she noticed Orly, who had turned his camera toward us. She smiled awkwardly for the camera and offered a wave, at which
point Orly muttered, “Don’t mind me,” and began expertly blending into the crowd.
“Are you surprised?” Laila asked once the camera was no longer right there .
Words failed at first as I looked around at everyone. “Shocked, more like. What is this?”
“It’s your welcome-home party, silly.” She laughed and hugged me.
“I really . . .” I had begun speaking to Laila, but I quickly realized there were about fifty people leaning in, trying to hear what I was saying.
I cleared my throat and spoke to the room.
“I really didn’t expect this. And . . . I don’t deserve it.
” A few people watched me cautiously, mistrust in their eyes, but most of them were smiling at me.
“Thank you for this. And for everything. Thank you for welcoming me back. I really am so sorry . . .” I sniffed, determined to at least get through a simple little speech without crying.
“I’m so sorry I said what I said, and even more than that, I’m sorry I felt that way.
I think I created something in my head to make it easier to be away from you all.
But all you ever did was love and support me.
” My eyes landed on Mrs. Stoddard. “That’s all you ever did.
And you deserved better. I really am so sorry. ”
The expression on her face remained as stoic as ever, but her arms opened, and I ran into them. I’d gotten through my little
speech. Mission accomplished. Now my tears were free to do as they saw fit.
“I thought you hated me.” I sniffed against Mrs. Stoddard’s shoulder. “I thought everyone hated me.”
“Nah. We love you too much to hate you.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me back so she could look me in the
eyes. “But if you ever talk that way about us again, I’m gonna march out there to New York and personally make you wish you’d
thought better of it. You understand me?” The corner of her mouth tilted upward, but her eyes meant business.
“Yes, ma’am. Understood.” I nodded and sniffed again. “I’d expect nothing less.”
“Alright, alright. That’s enough of all that, now.” Old Man Kimball’s voice came up behind us, and Mrs. Stoddard and I turned
to face him. “I only agreed to be part of all this hullabaloo because Sercastian told me we’d vote first and I could be on
my way.”
I mouthed, “Sercastian?” to Mrs. Stoddard as I pulled away from her, and she rolled her eyes in exasperated fashion.
“Yes, yes, Bill. We can always count on you to stand in the way of a good time. Thank you for the reminder. Doc!” she yelled
right by my ear and then wandered off toward Doc. “Let’s do this so the killjoy can get home for his first nap of the day.”
“Are you causing problems, Grandpa?” Cole came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “You’re not going to want
to hurry off too quickly. There’s cake...”
“You know I prefer pie,” he grumbled.
“And pie.”
Old Man Kimball cleared his throat. “Don’t mind if I do.” He walked over to the round table in the front of the room and sat
down.
I looked up at Cole and smiled, and he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Love you,” he whispered as he pulled away.
“Love you,” I responded.
“Hey, hey... watch it,” Sebastian said from behind Cole as he walked out of the kitchen.
Cole laughed as he moved toward the kitchen himself, and I was pretty sure I heard him say, “Never forget, she was my girlfriend
first.”
“You’re not jealous, are you, Sercastian?” I asked.
He approached me but kept his distance. We’d talked about a lot of things the evening before, but if and when we would tell
the people of Adelaide Springs about the romantic turn our relationship had taken hadn’t been among the topics. But I sure
loved that he’d apparently been unable to resist talking to Cole about me.
I had a text thread with Laila approximately the length of Fenton Norris’s bar tab to prove I’d been every bit as chatty.
“Sure I am. I’m jealous of anyone who gets to kiss you in the middle of a room like that.”
“Hey, kid.” Doc came up beside me just then and kissed the top of my head as he wrapped his arm around me. Sebastian’s eyes
grew wide and then narrowed in a comical fit of jealousy. I leaned into Doc’s shoulder and tried not to giggle. “Seb, we should
do this thing. You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He grimaced and followed Doc to the table, where Old Man Kimball was diving in to the pie Cole had
just brought him, and Jo was just getting settled with her notebook.
It took everything in me not to reach out and grab Sebastian’s hand as he passed, but instead I said softly, where only he could hear, “Let’s hear it for Township Days!”
He narrowed his eyes again and pointed his index finger at me as he sat, and my giggles finally escaped.