Chapter 18
The life I’d been living lately felt like a dream. Like it was all too good to be true, and if I blinked it would all escape me.
The weekend with the girls was incredible, and things had been blossoming in the weeks since.
I loved every moment I’ve got to spend with Trixie in her garden, learning about the different plants, how to harvest them, and what grows well together.
Vicky, and our chats about books had also become a big part of my morning routine.
We both loved to have more cream than necessary in our coffees and adored a good enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel.
I woke up bright and early the morning of the Harvest Bonfire, ready to meet with Gloria to get the flowers all set up inside the barn.
Calvin had been working so hard, and I admired his work ethic and drive toward giving his family everything.
His ideas were so creative and thoughtful.
The way he wanted to surprise his mom and grandma melted me, and I was ecstatic to help him execute those plans.
Not to mention the birthday present he had given me.
I was still reeling from that, and didn’t know what to do with the knowledge that this family—that had known me for such a short time—accepted me as one of their own like it was nothing.
To me it was everything.
The vintage items that had been saved from the old wedding chapel were stunning, and they only sparked further inspiration when I thought about the old rail house.
Gloria told me she’d be here at eight, so I headed out to the barn shortly before to start pouring water into all the vases. I grabbed a few buckets from the side of the house, filling them up from the garden hose, and made my way to the barn.
Huh? The door was already open. Maybe Calvin had gotten here before I had. I hoped Trixie didn’t come out here and spoil the surprise before we could show her.
But when I caught a glimpse of the first edge of the table, my breath left me and the buckets of water slipped from my hands.
“Oh no, no, no,” I cried as I ran into the barn.
It had been trashed.
The tables had not only been upturned but some were also broken.
The doilies were lying on the dirty floor of the barn.
The vintage glassware was scattered everywhere—most of it shattered.
Even some of the string lights I’d hung had been torn down.
It wasn’t only a mess, but priceless things had been ruined.
The sight brought back a memory I would have rather stayed buried forever.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Nick’s true colours, but it was also not long after I had lost my grandpa and my mind was clouded with grief.
Nick had misplaced his keys but blamed me for hiding them, even though I hadn’t.
He tore apart the entire apartment, first looking under couch cushions and bed pillows and leaving them scattered, then moving to dumping out entire drawers.
I finally got him to stop throwing more dinner plates across the kitchen when there were only a couple left unbroken once I found his keys in a pair of his pants he tossed into the laundry basket.
The only thing he said to me while snatching the keys out of my hand was “Why the fuck didn’t you look there first?”
I had never seen him act that way before, so I thought he’d apologize when he came home later that evening, except he didn’t.
Instead, he got mad at me again because I hadn’t cleaned up the mess yet.
I had cleaned up the glass and fixed some of my things that he threw around, but I didn’t realize he expected me to clean all of it on my own.
I fought back my tears as I picked up some pieces of glass, trying my best to salvage anything I could as I cleaned up the mess and quickly as possible before anyone else saw.
“Oh my goodness! What happened here?” Trixie came in, followed by Calvin close behind.
“Oh my god, Stella. Are you okay?”
The look on Trixie’s face when she realized what was all over the barn floor ruined my resolve, the dam broke and the tears poured out of me.
“I’m so sorry, Trixie, I don’t know what happened.
I just came out here to get the vases ready for Gloria to bring the flowers, and I found the barn trashed like this.
Calvin…it was his idea, he wanted to surprise you and Vicky, and god, was it beautiful.
I’m so sorry it’s all ruined.” I couldn’t help the sobs racking my body as I braced myself for impact.
I didn’t expect either of them to hit me like Nick would’ve in this moment, but I expected their words to hurt just as much for ruining family heirlooms.
“There, there, dear. It’s all right.” Trixie pulled me into her, and I flinched before I softened in her embrace. I was still too scared to look at Calvin, he must be fuming, but at least Trixie didn’t hate me.
“It’s not all right, though. It’s ruined, can’t you see? We tried to create such a beautiful space for the Thanksgiving dinner tonight. How did this happen? Did I leave the door open?”
“The door wasn’t open, it was busted,” Calvin said hoarsely.
“It was probably a bear that came through,” Trixie said.
“It happens, and there’s nothing you or I could have done to change anything about it.
” She lifted my face and looked me in the eyes, a look of complete authority took over her as she wiped my tears and straightened my dress.
“You listen to me when I tell you this.” I took a deep breath, ready to take her words to heart.
“The fact that you put in the effort means so much more to me than the outcome.”
Her words soothed that version of me from years ago who thought a space trashed by someone else was my fault.
“But we are not letting this effort go to waste. We have an opportunity to change this outcome right now. Come on, let’s get busy. We have lots of time before people start coming.”
Trixie would not accept any more of my guilty apologies, and it was all hands on deck for the next few hours as we fixed up the barn.
Gloria showed up with the flowers and helped out by washing all the doilies and laying them out in the sun to dry.
Garrett and Calvin fixed all the tables and chairs and disposed of the broken glass while Trixie, Vicky, and I salvaged what we could and rearranged the decor on the tables.
Melody and Olivia even popped by with some new string lights and helped hang them up.
We had almost finished when I heard a knock on the barn door.
“Heard you could use a few more pieces.”
“Cami! What are you doing here?” I got down from the stepladder to greet the owner of the thrift store in town. Her hot pink hair seemed to stand out even brighter against her all-black studded leather jacket and dark baggy jeans that had chains attached to the pockets and belt loops.
“Calvin called and explained what happened, and, like, as if I’m just going to let this stuff sit in storage when it can be used here.
” She opened the top of the box she was holding to reveal a rainbow of assorted colours of vintage glassware.
There was more than enough stuff to replace what had been broken of Trixie’s.
“Cami, this is beautiful. How much do you want for it?”
“Oh my god. Nothing. Grandpa would probably smite me if I charge Trixie’s family anything when it comes to the Harvest Festival.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the comically exaggerated look of fear on her face.
“Thank you so much,” I said as I took the box from her hands.
“Of course, I have another in my car. I’ll go grab it and then I’ll help you get them set out.”
By the time we finished, the barn looked even more beautiful than it had initially, because we each had a hand in the outcome.