Chapter Thirty-Five
Thirty-Five
A Pearl of Wisdom
from Nettie Getchell
“Maybe you’re breaking down. Or maybe you’re breaking through.”
Juliet
The gray was creeping in.
“I’m in heaven. I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Amy said, ogling desserts. “Or maybe I’m dreaming.”
“Should I pinch her?” I loudly whispered to Callum. “See if she wakes up?”
“No, you should not,” Amy intoned as she took a huge bite of a cupcake. “If I am dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.”
Callum smiled. Somehow he’d found us in the big crowd not too long after we arrived. I thought it quite brave of him to want to meet my mom, my sister, so soon, but he’d won them over quickly.
At one point, Amy had whispered, “Now I really know why you don’t want to leave this town.”
I’d smiled. Callum wasn’t the only reason why, but he was at the top of the list.
An hour later, we were strolling along the path, making our way toward the show tent. Mom was off on the hunt for something healthy to snack on and was going to meet us there.
“I don’t know how you haven’t eaten anything yet,” Amy said to me, finishing off the cupcake.
“I’m just not that hungry,” I said.
It was an understatement. I had no appetite at all. In fact, I was a little queasy.
The clouds were darkening.
I told myself I was fine. Everything was fine. They were just clouds.
I was just a little thrown off by how much this park reminded me of the one my grandpa and I used visit. Narrow paths. Towering trees. No shelter.
Callum glanced at me, searching. Worry shadowed his blue eyes, and I wasn’t sure what had tipped him off that something was wrong. He said, “I’m going to get a lemon donut. Can I get you one?”
Knowing he’d keep asking—or Amy would—until I ate something, I pasted on a smile. “Sure. Thanks.”
“Amy?” he offered.
Her mouth was now full of red velvet cookie, so she shook her head and waved him on.
“Okay. Then I’ll be right back.”
We stepped off the path, out of the traffic flow, to wait for Callum as he strode toward a tent with a yellow canopy.
Behind it, the leaves on a tree flapped in the breeze.
The wind had definitely picked up since we arrived.
I glanced at the fast-moving clouds, felt a bit dizzy, and looked down again before I tipped over.
I clasped my hands together to keep from checking the weather radar on my phone and told myself it was just wind.
Just clouds and wind.
That was all.
Yet my heart rate kicked up a notch, and my hand went to the scar on my neck.
Amy eyed me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Something. The pulse is jumping in your neck.”
I made like a turtle, tucking my chin to my chest. “Nope.”
“Juliet.”
I squinted. “Is that frosting on your cheek?”
With a small eep, she quickly pulled a compact from her purse and swiped the smudge away. While she was at it, she reapplied her lipstick.
I’d hoped it would be enough to distract her from her line of questioning, but once she put everything away and zipped up her purse, she said, “If it’s not the weather that’s bothering you, what is it?”
I was saved from lying by Maeve, who came hobbling toward us, a plastic cake-slice container in one hand, a fork in the other.
“Just the person I was hoping to see,” she said to me.
Then she promptly fell into conversation with Amy for a good two minutes, chatting about how she was liking it here, what treats she’d eaten, and what kind of lipstick she wore, because it was such a beautiful shade.
Southern charm at its finest.
Finally, she faced me and said, “Can I borrow you a minute, Juliet?”
“Sure.”
Amy said, “I might try one of those donuts after all. Maybe two. Don’t tell Mom.”
“I promise,” I said, falling in slow step with Maeve.
Once we were a few feet away, she held out the cake slice. It was pink cake with white frosting covered in what appeared to be thousands of rainbow sprinkles.
“Could you find Katy and give this to her? I promised her I’d bring it right back, but I just got a call from Juneberry and need to go.”
My stomach free-fell. “Renny?”
She put her hand on my arm, shook her head. “Not Renny.”
I pushed a hand to my chest, felt my heart racing, just as thunder rumbled in the distance. My head snapped up.
“What is it, honey?”
“Do you hear thunder?”
She tipped her head, listening. “I don’t, no.”
Strange.
“Listen,” she said, checking her watch, “now’s not really the time, but a little Tallulah Byrd told me you were going to be moving here, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m just busting. Now, now, no need to frown. I know you asked her not to tell anyone just yet, but she can’t hide things from me.”
I had asked Tallulah to keep the news quiet for the time being, but I should’ve known she wouldn’t be able to hide it from Maeve. Or Katy, either.
They seemed to be experts at reading people.
Maeve rushed on, talking quickly, which told me she was in a rush. Usually, she was a leisurely speaker. “I know you’re used to working with littles, but I’d love to have you at Juneberry. Everyone there loves you as much as I do. Think about it, okay?”
“Think about what?” Callum asked, walking up to us, holding two donuts wrapped in waxed bakery paper.
Maeve gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, and said, “I’m trying to lure Juliet to town with a job offer.”
His eyebrows went up. “Really?” The hope in his eyes brought my anxiety down a notch. “Would you consider it?”
“I definitely would.”
He grinned.
“I’ve got to get going.” Maeve nodded to the piece of cake I was holding. “Katy’s at the picnic tables near the big tent. If anyone starts looking for me, tell them I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
As soon as she walked away, Callum said, “What about your job in Michigan?”
“I might’ve already turned in my resignation.” I met his gaze, let him see that I was serious. About quitting my job. About moving here. About him.
The world around us fell away. The wind died down. Sunbeams poked through the clouds. My stomach settled. My heart calmed, slowing from a jackhammer to the soft beating of delicate bee wings.
A slow smile spread across his face.
I loved that smile. His eyes. Maybe him.
I wanted to know for sure. Wanted to see where life would take me. Us.
Just as he was leaning in, a whistle broke the spell between us.
A catcall.
I looked over his shoulder to see Isabel giving me a thumbs-up from where she stood in the same donut line as Amy.
Callum laughed. “We’re never going to hear the end of it.”
“Ever,” I agreed.
The wind returned, making tent flaps slap against support poles. The clouds thickened, edged in black. My feet tingled.
He nudged my arm. “Small festivals or amusement parks?”
I was trying to fight off a wave of queasiness as I said, “Festivals.”
“Me, too, though I like a good roller coaster.”
I searched and searched my brain for a This or That question for him, trying to ignore the light raindrops now falling. Spitting, my grandpa used to say.
In my head, I saw his kind eyes, his crooked smile.
I saw him with his face turned to the heavens, letting the rain soak him to the bone.
I saw him dancing, laughing.
My pulse throbbed in my ears.
Blinking the images of him away, I tried to find calm. I took a step closer to Callum, wanting to go back to that magical moment a minute ago, where it had been just the two of us and clear skies.
Because he was waiting for a counter-question, I looked around for inspiration and landed on the tent with strawberry cake. “Strawberries or raspberries?”
“Raspberries.”
“Strawberries for me,” I said, the words weak.
I gripped Katy’s cake box and threw a look at Amy, wishing the line would move faster. The sooner we could get to the big tent, the better. If I couldn’t see the dark skies, feel the raindrops, maybe I could shake this feeling of impending doom.
Beyond her, farther down the path, I saw Evanthe, Tallulah’s boss, walking toward us with someone who looked awful familiar. “Is that Jake?” I asked. “I thought he left town.”
“His truck broke down last night, not too far from Miss Evanthe’s house. It’s sitting in my shop right now.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Not sure. I won’t have a chance to look at it until Monday. Probably has something to do with the town’s folklore, considering how close he and Tallulah became.”
I looked at him, puzzled. “But he’s not a lost soul. His truck didn’t break down when he got here, to Forget-Me-Not. There wasn’t any smoke.” I knew because I’d asked Tallulah during one of our nights on the couch.
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s just another of those exceptions we don’t understand.”
I had so many questions, but they all seemed to vanish from my mind when a roll of thunder shook the ground beneath my feet. I broke out in a sweat yet felt cold. My hands were clammy. My head ached.
Callum said, “Are you all right? You’ve gone pale.”
“I don’t like thunder,” I said.
My hands started to tremble.
He tipped his head, then looked at the sky. “You hear thunder?”
I nodded. “Don’t you?”
It had been loud. Powerful enough to shake the ground.
When he shook his head, I wanted to cry. Why was I the only one who could hear it?
He handed me the donuts, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and called up a weather app. “There’s heavy rain to the south of us. No storms, though.” He turned the screen toward me, let me see the radar.
I saw only green—rain—on the tiny map, but I knew what I’d heard.
“Do you want to leave?” he asked.
More than anything in the world.
Then my gaze fell on the cake I held. Katy was waiting for it. “I’m okay. We can stay.”
He noticed me shaking when he retrieved the donuts from my hand. “How about we get you inside? Sit down for a while?”
I nodded.
Pressing a kiss to my temple, he said, “The skies will clear soon. Maybe an hour, by the look of that map. Just hold on a little bit longer.”