Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
PEARL
P earl chewed on the inside of her cheek as she waited…and waited.
Annnd waited.
Damn, Rose takes a long time to eat a fucking cookie.
“So, what do you think?” Pearl said. She felt so nervous. The Parkers had always been so nice to her, but she was essentially kind of asking for a favor.
Rose’s taste was impeccable. She, Lily, and Violet had started an empire of flower shops, taking rundown flower shops and rebranding them, making a larger franchise. Bloom had local chocolates, lotions, crafts, and gifts interspersed with all their plants and flowers, and Pearl had hoped she could be one of the vendors.
Pearl respected the hell out of them for doing what they wanted on their own terms and improving communities along the way.
I should probably tell them that, but that’s really hard.
“I think…I’m shocked this doesn’t have regular cookie ingredients in it. It’s great,” Rose said, licking spiced chai frosting off her thumb.
“So you think I make good cookies,” Pearl said, stumbling through her pitch.
I can do this. That’s what Reed would say if he was here. She kind of wished he was here, even though things were still weird between them.
It had been odd not seeing him for over twenty-four hours. They’d spent practically every minute together the last six weeks.
Rose angled her head in confusion. “Is there something you wanted to talk about? Like selling these in the store?”
“I want to sell in the store,” Pearl said at the same time Rose did.
Wait, what?
Rose considered it for a split second. “Sure,” she said with a casual shrug.
“They’d need to be refrigerated.” Pearl winced.
“Eh.” Rose waved her away. “Lily can find some cute baskets. We’ll label them and put them in the refrigerator. It’ll be great,” Rose said, snagging another cookie for the road as she took off through the store.
“Oh, well, thanks,” Pearl said. “Um, there’s one other thing I wanted to talk about, though.”
“Is it the fact that you need to stop working for us because you’re gonna be full-time with Reed and your own bakery?” Rose said, smiling over her shoulder as she tapped away at her phone.
Holy shit.
“You’re not a witch, are you?” Pearl said, totally taken aback.
Rose laughed. “Nah.” She holstered her phone. “The writing’s been on the wall for a while. Obviously, we’d love for you to stay as a part-time driver, but something tells me your heart’s in other places.”
Pearl sighed. She didn’t know where her heart was these days. “You deserve to have somebody who actually likes flowers working at your flower shop. Can I let you know when my last few weeks will be?”
“Sure,” Rose said as she grabbed her stuff to leave.
“You’re not mad?” Pearl asked. She’d been the first employee the Parkers had hired, and they’d taken a chance on her—the girl with an attitude and no references.
“No. Plus, now we have a brother we can draft to help,” Rose said with a wicked smile.
Pearl was so jealous that Reed had this woman as a sister. She was cool, tough as balls, successful, and though she had a tough exterior like Pearl did, she was actually nice underneath.
Allison was lovely but still had a bad taste in her mouth about men from her divorce. None of Pearl’s other friends at the Thirsty Beaver could give any solid relationship advice. Maybe Rose, being the married, bad bitch she was, could help.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Pearl asked.
“As long as you don’t mind walking me out to my car.” Rose was constantly in motion, like one of those swinging ball things rich lawyers had on their desks.
“How did you know Gray was the one?” Pearl asked.
“Oh, god,” Rose stopped, thinking, looking like she was trying to remember. “He loved all the bad things about me, appreciated all the good things. Ultimately, I was a better person after being with him. I knew I wanted that for the rest of my life.”
He loved all the bad things about her . Reed’s “I love your anger” echoed in Pearl’s head.
“He kind of helped me get through my shit, you know?” Rose said, sliding into her sleek sports car.
Pearl nodded. She’d always liked Gray, Rose’s husband.
“I’m sworn to secrecy, but…I’m sure whoever you’re thinking about”—Rose peered over her sunglasses with a pointed look —“probably feels the same way about you.” She winked at Pearl as she started the car.
“You’re pretty good at this advice shit,” Pearl said over the roar of the sports car’s engine.
“It comes with the territory of big sister. And, big sister-in-law…in case you were curious.” A teasing smile tugged on Rose’s lips as she backed out of the spot.
“Hey,” Pearl called, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thanks. For taking a chance on me.” That was all her emotions would let her get out before her eyes blurred with tears and her throat caught.
She swallowed them, trying not to let it show.
“I bet on smart people with good hearts,” Rose called back. “And you’re one of ’em.” She waved and took off.
A glow lit inside Pearl’s chest. She was going to sell her stuff in a fancy-ass store!
Pearl hefted the heavy bag on her shoulder. It held the stupid fucking piece of paper she needed to deal with next.
Step one on becoming a self-loving badass? Crushed it.
Step two? Find old Mr. Bow Tie Guy and drag him to the Public Health Department to contest these stupid-ass fines.
Eight flights of stairs later, wandering through the courthouse, Pearl huffed up to the Public Health Department by herself.
Honestly, why was the fucking County Commissioner in charge of everything? Ugh, small-town living.
Bow Tie Guy was nowhere to be found, and threatening government employees with blackmail and baked goods hadn’t produced any results.
She’d just have to handle this herself.
And me, fresh out of fake blood capsules.
She paused in the stairwell, trying to catch her breath, when she heard a familiar voice.
“I’m not leaving until you waive the discriminatory fine for my business partner,” Reed’s voice echoed.
His business partner? Pearl peeked around the corner in confusion.
A motley crew surrounded Reed, and they stared at Pecan Man who looked pink-faced with anger. Aaron, Nash, Mrs. Maroo-Canon, and Tiny all flanked Reed who stood in the middle.
“My business partner was targeted with unfair fines at the Firefly Festival despite no one else having to meet those requirements. Citation 24.0.1, 1B-1.4, and 57 Form A,” Reed said in a clear, firm voice.
“We were a food vendor at the festival,” Aaron piped in, “and Fox and Forrest didn’t have to fill out any of those forms.”
“Well,” Pecan Man scoffed. “We know you; you’ve passed all other inspections in your restaurant just fine.”
“I didn’t have to either,” Pop jumped in from behind Tiny.
Pop is here for me? Pearl thought, getting mushy.
“Now, Pop,” Pecan Man said, “You’re an institution.”
“So.” Nash leaned up into the counter. His imposing six-and-a-half-foot height towered over the weaselly Pecan Man. “As the sponsor of the upcoming Strawberry Shortcake Festival, the Fairwick Falls Credit Union will need to rethink sponsorships if you admit to openly discriminating against some businesses. I’m also happy to personally donate a disgustingly large sum of money to whoever runs against you in the next election.”
Pecan Man’s face drained.
Nash had a lot of money.
“Ooh, maybe you should run, Nash,” Aaron said with a wicked grin.
“Hm,” Nash said, smiling, “maybe I should.”
Pecan Man looked rather nervous at that comment.
Mrs. Maroo-Canon leaned against the counter. Her rhinestone glasses were a bright red today, only outshone by her bright red lips. “I’m prepared to represent both Reed and his business partner as their legal counsel in a discrimination suit. If half the things he’s told me are true, you wouldn’t be allowed to plunge a toilet in the courthouse when I’m through with you. And , Bobby Snodgrass”—she pointed a finger at Pecan Man—“I will happily call your mother and tell her what a little ass you are.”
Bobby/Pecan Man gulped.
“Yeah.” A large bark of a sound came from Tiny, who had stood in the back with his arms crossed. “Pearl didn’t do nothin’ wrong.”
Bobby flinched when Tiny stepped closer.
Pearl’s heart swelled. Reed was standing up for her, and he’d somehow brought a bunch of people with her that believed in her, too.
“We’ll investigate and get back to you,” Bobby said, reaching for the rolling window.
Reed slammed his hand against it, stopping him.
“I’m not leaving until you waive the fines. I will happily wait all day, and the next day, and the next day until I am your worst nightmare. And did I mention that your boss, the mayor, is my biggest customer? I’d happily call in whatever favor is needed to make sure you won’t do this again to anyone else.”
Reed wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Pearl’s jaw dropped, and to be honest, her pussy clenched, too.
Bobby looked at Reed for a long moment. Pearl couldn’t see his face, but Reed stood a little straighter.
“Beulah,” Bobby called. Beulah walked in around the corner and jumped at the crowd. “We misfiled the issues for the Blackbird Bakery. You can just delete those from the system. Must have been a mistake. All right, I hope you fine folks have a great rest of your day.” He tried to pull down the window cover, but Reed didn’t budge.
“ And you’ll remove Beulah from public-facing duties. This isn’t the first time she’s used her power to pick on people she doesn’t like.”
Mrs. Maroo-Canon tapped her nails lazily on the counter. “I have plenty of time to happily subpoena every single document to prove fraudulent activity in this department, and then you can kiss that reelection goodbye, can’t you, Bobby?”
“Fine,” Bobby said. “She’ll be put on a leave of absence.” Reed moved and Bobby slammed the window down.
“Wow,” Reed said, turning around, looking relieved. “Thank you all so much.”
Mrs. Maroo-Canon had already started for the staircase. “Oh, I was happy to give that used Swiffer mop a piece of my mind, honestly. The shit he used to pull as a boy…”
They were all walking toward her. Oh shit, oh shit. She looked over the railing. The only place to go was down four flights of stairs. I can’t go down them because then they’ll know I heard them.
“Hey, girl!” Aaron said from the corner, catching her panicking on all fours and peeking around the corner. “We were just talking about you.”
“There’s our woman of the hour,” Mrs. Maroo-Canon said, pinching Pearl’s cheek. “I am so proud of you.”
Pearl wanted to die of embarrassment, even though she kind of loved it.
“You were all here for me?” Pearl winced, expecting the inevitable guilt trip. Her eyes connected with Reed’s in the back, his smile warm and apologetic.
“So you heard us talking?” Aaron said. “And all that bullshit that guy said?”
“Yeah,” Pearl said, smiling at Reed. “I heard everything.”
“Well, we just want to help,” Mrs. Maroo-Canon said as she and Pops started walking down the stairs.
“Reed said you want to expand. Maybe you could sell some of your stuff at the cafe. You know, like a grab-and-go thing,” Aaron said as they ambled down the flights of stairs.
“That’s a good idea,” Pops said over his shoulder. “Maybe you could make some gluten-free pancakes and we could freeze ’em. I always feel bad that I don’t have anything for folks, but I’ve never been able to figure out a good batter.” Pops shrugged, going down the stairs nimbly for somebody who was easily in his eighties.
“We could talk to Dave about adding some snacks at the Beaver,” Tiny said behind her. “Sometimes you just want something a little sweet to go with your light beer, you know?” Heads nodded back in agreement.
Ideas kept ping-ponging past her as they walked down the steps, her issues now having miraculously vanished.
Her bag felt lighter for some reason; the pink envelope no longer had any power over her.
Neither does Beulah.
She hung back, waiting for Reed once they’d gotten outside the courthouse.
As Nash walked by her, he gave her a nod. “He’s a keeper,” he whispered and thwacked her arm with a friendly smile.
“Did he tell you to say that?” Pearl said over her shoulder.
“Nope,” Nash said, rolling a toothpick lazily in his mouth as he walked toward the Fairwick Falls Credit Union office. “I just know how busy my day was today and how much arm-twisting it took to get me out of my office,” he called as he walked away.
“Now, you two get inside before it starts raining. My left knee is never wrong,” Pop added as he walked back to the diner.
Pearl could feel Reed next to her before she knew he was there.
“Hi,” he said, that small, lopsided smile she loved on his face. He looked nervous and a little shy.
I’m gonna crumple like an old dollar bill. How could she ever stay mad at that face? The one who looked so nervous to make her happy?
“Hi,” she said back, lost in his eyes.
“I don’t know how much you heard, but, um...” He scratched the back of his head. “The fines are gone. They basically all but admitted to targeting you, and me to some extent.”
She bit her lip, nodding. The weight lifting off her shoulders made her feel giddy. “I heard everything. It was very sexy,” she admitted with a laugh.
“Thank you,” he said, the word coming out almost as a sob. He looked torn and grateful and so handsome. “Thank you for pushing me to be who I really am. I’m so sorry I let you down, that I let Violet down. I was so used to hanging onto scraps of the relationships I could get my whole life that I never thought that would ruin the few good things that have ever happened to me. I told my parents everything.”
She sucked in a breath. “And…”
He bit his lip as it wobbled. “Pearl, they apologized . For making me feel like I couldn’t be myself. That’s the best gift you could ever give me.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And I told them I’m in love with you. My mom really likes that you’re angry, too.”
She laughed, wiping away a tear that had dropped onto her cheek.
He took her hand. “I will fight for you. I’ll fight City Hall, I will fight Beulah, I’ll even fight you as long as you want me, if that’s what it takes to convince you that you are perfect for me. I came alive when I met the real you. I will spend every day for the rest of my life convincing you that you deserve every good thing in this world.” He pushed her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering over it. “You are worth the risk of losing everything else, including the bookstore––”
“But it’s your dream,” she interrupted, not understanding.
“You are my dream. You are the purpose I want.”
My purpose. It echoed down into the bottom of her spine as she remembered the poem he’d written.
“I want you to have a spot in the bookstore until you have your own bakery. You’re also getting a percentage of the store’s sales. It’s our store, not just mine. When I told my parents everything, I realized how much of you surrounded me in that bookstore. If you’re not with me, I don’t want it.”
This was more than she ever thought was possible.
He held her hands, gently rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles. She loved that he always needed to feel her, brush his thumb or his hands against her, as if reassuring himself she was real.
“Can you ever forgive me?” he said, even as she leaned into his touch as his hand came to her face.
She closed her eyes, savoring it.
“You were right. I am soft,” she sighed, admitting the terrible truth. “The world is really hard for soft people, and I couldn’t take it. I had to put up this spiky shell. So, I started playing this game.” Her lip trembled as she finally looked him in the eye. “If I beat the world to the punch and said I wasn’t lovable, no one could have the upper hand. If I said I was a bitch, then I won. No one pulled one over on me.”
He looked at her with such love. No judgment. It was an overwhelming wave of warmth washing over her.
“But then I met this guy online, and he spoke my weird little language and broke down every argument I had that no one could love the real me. And then this guy I worked for—he was so annoying, you wouldn’t even believe it.” Reed chuckled, pulling her hips toward him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. “He kept saying these things about me. Yelling that I was amazing and smart and it made me feel fucking glittery ,” she said the word with disgust.
“The audacity,” he murmured as he kissed her hairline.
She nuzzled in. “Truly the worst. He was smart, hot, and successful. The real trouble was, I started believing him.”
He sighed with satisfaction, and she finally looked up from her favorite spot against his chest.
“Being hopelessly in love with you made me realize just how far I’d fooled myself. I mean, you make me fucking giggle. It’s disgusting.” They laughed as he kissed her temple. “And I still like death metal, and I definitely want to fuck the patriarchy straight off a cliff?—”
“You name the time and place, and I’m there,” he murmured. His lips hadn’t left her skin for a moment.
She hugged his waist tight, like he liked it. “But I think I like this new version. Where maybe I can love myself some.”
“A lot,” he countered.
“Okay, fine,” she said with a smile.
He tipped her chin up. “And even if you have a hard life, I will be there in every way in the hardness with you?—”
“Dirty,” she interrupted.
“—But moving forward, it’s my job as the person who loves you to make your life as soft as possible.”
She stared at him in wonder. How was this her life?
He kissed her sweetly as a few errant rain drops landed on her cheeks.
So, they’d had their first fight.
And he was still here, loving her.
He’d come back even after she’d pushed him away. It boggled her mind.
“So, now that we’ve made up, you get to experience the wonders of make-up sex?—”
“Hey!” Reed yelled at someone in the distance.
Pearl jolted and looked over her shoulder.
Beulah walked out of the courthouse holding a cardboard box, looking dejected. They turned to stare at her as she shuffled past them to her car. The air was thick with an oncoming summer storm.
“Why?” Reed said, breaking away from Pearl. “ Why have you tormented her? And me? What did we ever do to you?”
Oh shit. She’d thought this ‘fighting for her” thing was going to be more theoretical, not something ongoing.
Fuck if it didn’t make her just a little horny.
“This woman”—Reed pointed to Pearl—“is the most loyal, kindest, loveliest person I have ever known. And yeah, she’s a little ragey,” he said, straightening his shoulders, “but she would never go out of her way to hurt someone. So why ?”
Beulah stared at Pearl in defeat. Her floppy bow was crushed against her ugly old suit. The lines on her face had deepened, and she looked miserable.
Why aren’t I happier right now? This is my wildest fantasy come true.
“I just...” Beulah whined. “…I missed my husband, alright? He died, and I liked when the neighborhood was quiet. I didn’t have to think about what I was missing. Then you moved next door with the little devil spawn and her big father, and I just wanted you to move away. I wanted to forget what it felt like to live life. But you were so happy ,” she said the last word with disgust. “Laughter and yelling and dancing. I couldn’t forget when I saw it every day.”
She shifted the box full of photo frames, a plant, and a gnome in her hands. “We met at the bank, Curtis and I,” she said finally, as if giving away her final hand at cards as she nodded to the bookstore. “If it was still like it was, then a part of him was still there. When you’re my age, there aren’t many things left from your past.” She shook her head, fighting back emotion, but turned with a resigned sigh back to her car. “I don’t like to lose, and it got out of hand. But you won. I’m on administrative leave and I’ll be home by myself. Listening to your disgusting happiness.” She toddled to the car with her heavy box.
Reed looked at Pearl.
The ball was in her court.
She saw the ghost of her future in Beulah, a grumpy old woman who had no one and had doubled down on misery.
Who’s to say I wouldn’t be just like her?
Pearl’s heart clutched. A phrase echoed in her head that Reed had said a long time ago. Hurt people hurt people.
“You know how you get rid of a bully?” Pearl yelled. Beulah stopped. “You love them,” Pearl said, emphasizing the last two words.
Pearl gulped, standing in front of Beulah with her hands on her hips.
Love was punk as fuck. No one could tell her otherwise.
“Beulah fucking Spurgeon, I am going to love you so hard it’s going to annoy the absolute shit out of you.”
“Why?” Beulah asked with wide eyes, looking scared at the notion.
“Because hurt people hurt people, so I am going to treat you like I’m the grandchild you never wanted,” Pearl said, getting in her face, pointing a finger at her. “Every Sunday? We’re having breakfast. Christmas? Your ass better be in our living room eating gluten-free cookies. And on your birthday? I’m getting you the ugliest fucking gnome I can find.”
The prospect sounded pretty fun, actually.
Beulah’s toad-like eyes stared in wary vulnerability. “That sounds terrible.” She looked darkly delighted at the prospect.
Pearl narrowed her eyes. “It will be. I promise,” she said with a threat in her voice.
Beulah sighed, as if giving up. “Fine, but you’re fixing breakfast. And I hate coffee, so you’d better shill out for some decent tea. I’ll bring the bourbon.” She toddled off to her car.
Pearl’s body was vibrating.
Had it been that simple all along?
A hand rubbed her back, and Reed pulled her into his side. “I’m proud of you,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
Distant thunder rumbled.
Pearl turned around to see Reed staring at her with a warm, proud smile.
A fat raindrop spattered onto his shirt and another one hit her arm.
“Now, what was that about make-up sex?”