Page 22 of A Pack for the Wedding
"Thanks. There's nothing like the rush of building something from the ground up." I hold his gaze for a beat. "You know,withoutdipping into your parents' bank accounts."
A muscle feathers in Grant's jaw.
"Beth's doing awesome work," Arthur says, easy and bright. "Some people drive in from Cedarville and Ridgeville to buy from her."
"That's great," Grant says, and to his credit, he holds eye contact with Arthur while almost looking pleased.
"On a different topic," Jessica says, threading her arm through Grant's. "You look wonderful together." Her gaze sweeps across Arthur, Mason, and Knox in a way that's meant to be admiring but lands somewhere closer to assessing.
Mason's hand settles on my shoulder. Heavy. Warm. Deliberate.
"Thanks. I guess we're... all just really happy right now," he says.
Jessica's smile flickers, just for a second, and then resets, wider than before.
"That's wonderful," she says. "Really. I'm so glad everyone's... moving forward."
Grant is looking at Mason's hand on my shoulder. Then Arthur, then Knox. Something shifts in his expression.
"You know, Beth," Jessica adds, touching Grant's arm, "we should all get together sometime. The six of us. I think that would be sonice."
"Oh, definitely," Arthur says before I can respond, his grin easy and wide. "Come over to our place. Beth's been redecorating, it looks so incredible now."
I have, in fact, not been redecorating. But it seems to struck a nerve as Jessica's fingers tighten around Grant's arm like a vise.
"Well," Grant says. His smile is still there, but it's thinned out. "That sounds—yeah. We'll have to check our schedules." He touches Jessica's back. "We should probably go say hi to Mrs. Patterson. But this was really nice. Seeing you. All of you."
"So nice," Jessica echoes.
They retreat across the lawn, and I watch them go, my hands shaking slightly as the tension finally breaks.
I let out a long, slow exhale.
"Bold move," I say to Arthur. "Inviting them to dinner atour place."
Arthur's grin hasn't faded. "That dinner is never happening in a million years, and we all know it. But did you see her face when I saidredecorating?"
I did see it, and a triumphant, petty thrill sings through my veins. It feels amazing to be on the winning side of an interaction with them.
But as I watch Jessica whisper something into Grant's ear, a sinking feeling in my gut warns me not to get too comfortable. I feel this was only round one of a long psychological war.
7
Beth
The following Thursday, I'm standing at the trailhead for Lakeview Woods, about a mile past Lakeview General Store, where the paved road gives up and turns into packed dirt before disappearing entirely into a wall of green. I've been here a handful of times since moving to town, mostly to identify wild specimens for the shop, but I've never arrived to find twenty-three first graders in matching yellow safety vests.
"Mrs. Taylor!" The classroom teacher waves me over with enthusiasm. "We spoke on the phone—I'm Mrs. Brooks, but please, call me Sarah. Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice."
"Happy to help! And please, call me Beth." I adjust the strap of my field bag. "So, where do you want me?"
She points toward the front of the line, where the children are buzzing with energy. I smile, briefly remembering the joy of a school day that doesn't involve sitting at a desk.
"I was thinking we could start walking them through the meadow section," she says. "There should be some nice flowers there. I've got the back of the line."
I head to the front, and a girl with braids and a gap-toothed smile immediately adopts me as her new best friend.
"I'm Sophie," she announces. "Do you know a lot about flowers?"
