Chapter 5
Magnolia
My hands were still trembling while holding the letter, years of emotions I had done my best to bury were threatening to get the best of me. I couldn’t stay here; I didn’t need the money. However, that money would be more than enough to start my own clinic… what’s two years when at the end of it you get everything you’ve spent the last eight years working toward? My head was a jumbled mess of emotions with the ‘should I or shouldn’t I’. I reached for my phone in my back pocket and pulled up Lexie’s contact and pressed call.
“Hi, friend,” she singsong answered on the first ring. “I see you still haven’t read my texts. What’s up, babes?”
“Lexie…I….” My voice cracked. It was like just by hearing hers, all the emotions I was trying to hold in seeped out. “I need you.”
“I’m on my way.” I was met with a click before I could respond.
I finally let myself succumb to all the emotions and stress these last few days have caused me —hell, the last few months since my dad passed, if I’m being honest. I let the grief of it all weigh me down until I sank to my knees and gave into the tears—they were the silent kind, the ones that shook your entire body and you had to do everything in your power to focus on just breathing. The last feeling I felt before I let sleep overtake me was bone-deep exhaustion. I just wanted to float away into my unconscious, so I did.
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The banging on the door roused me from where I had fallen asleep on the floor. Luckily for me, this dusty old throw rug seemed to be my landing place, and minus the dust, it was rather comfy. The banging intensified.
“Good gravy, hold your horses, I’m coming,” I yelled at the intruder. A quick glance at the old grandfather clock told me it was ten-thirty p.m., meaning I had slept for nearly twelve hours.
I made my way to the door and ripped it open, ready to tell off whoever felt the need to behave this way this late, but I couldn’t help the smile that found my face when I saw who stood on the other side of it.
“Lexie,” I breathed and pulled her to me. I could feel her body tense in shock before she returned the hug tenfold.
“Babes, as good as it is to see you, you look like shit.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me. I was sure I looked half crazed. I could feel my eyes were swollen, and I unfortunately wasn’t one of those girls who looked gorgeous when they cried. In fact, it was quite the opposite; my face got splotchy, everything swelled, and good god, the amount of mucus I could produce. It was not a pretty sight.
“Are you going to invite me in? Or are we going to stand out here all night? Not that I mind, but I am slightly concerned this porch might give out.” She glanced around. I took her in; my best friend was a bomb shell with her crimson-colored hair, blue eyes, and tall willowy figure. I stood to the side, and she pushed past me.
She whistled low. “Man, this place looks like you. Rough.”
I poked her in the rib. “Why’d you even come if you were going to insult me the whole time?”
“Easy, you needed me.”
“How’d you get here so fast?” I quirked my eyebrow at her.
“I’m offended that you thought I was going to let you do this alone. I knew you needed a day or two by yourself. My ticket was already booked, so your phone call just confirmed that I was coming.”
I couldn’t help the tears that were forming again. She really was the best.
“How about you show me where I’m staying, make me some coffee, and then we can talk about it?”
“Demanding, aren’t you, for someone who just got here.” Without waiting for her smartass comeback, I started toward the stairs, and she took that as her cue to follow me. I led her to the other guest room and told her to meet me in the kitchen when she was ready.
I made my way downstairs and realized I had yet to go to the store. I started looking through the cabinets in hopes that I could find something , anything. Luckily, an old box of Earl Gray tea sat in one of the long-forgotten cupboards. I cleaned and found the old teapot, added the water, and silently prayed to whoever might be listening that the gas stove still worked. The flames turning on led me to let out a whoop of happiness.
“Tea, babes? Tea? ”
“Okay, picky princess, I haven’t had the time to go to the store yet. You’ll just have to deal for the night.”
She huffed in frustration and pointed her red-painted nail in my direction. “Tomorrow morning, first thing, we are going shopping.”
I shuddered at the thought of going into town, but I guess it didn’t matter now. There was no way after Lori’s visit last night and my breakfast meeting that half the town didn’t already know I was back.
I had always thought that if Sloan were here, he might reach out to me. He tried calling and texting in the first weeks after I left, but I didn’t even read them. I knew that if I spoke with him, I would cave in and accept any excuse he gave. I was that in love with him, but there were no excuses good enough. Then, when my resolve almost broke, I blocked him and never allowed myself to look back.
“We’re going, babes. You can’t live on dust and old tea.”
I couldn’t help myself; I rounded the kitchen island to her side and grabbed her in another hug—and this one she returned without a moment of hesitation.
“Not that I don’t love this, but you must tell me what happened. I’ve known you eight years now, and I can count on my hand the number of times we’ve hugged, and I can tell you, not once have you ever initiated physical contact. Two hugs in under an hour? You’re about to send me into full-on panic mode, babes. Talk to me.”
I sat on the stool next to her and went through my last twenty-four hours: the drive, seeing Lori out by the dock, seeing Momma and Papa Tuck, what Momma said to me about running, what the lawyer said. Then, I showed her the letter from my dad. When she finished reading, she had a puzzled look on her face as if she were trying to make the pieces fit. After a few minutes of her processing everything, she finally spoke.
“That’s some shit, babe…some real shit.”
“That’s all you got for me?”
She laughed. “You want me to lie to you to make you feel better? Or do you want my honest advice?”
I blew out a breath, my heart sinking. “You think I should stay.”
“I think you’ll regret it if you don’t.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think I can do it alone again, Lex. I don’t think my heart can handle it…”
I felt her shudder next to me. She was there when I fully shut down last time, so she understood what I meant.
“Babes, who ever said you were going to be alone?”
She smiled at me and told me what she was thinking.