Page 5 of Bluebell Promises

Now that the crowd understood she was awake, the party resumed. The band started up again, playing a song from Supertramp that James Harper had liked. Wren wondered if her sisters had specifically asked the band to play their father’s favorite hits. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? Oh, she’d made a mistake in coming back here.

“I need to rest,” she murmured to her sisters.

Celia straightened up and called for Landon. “Can you carry her over to Ivy’s place?”

Ivy groaned and narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. Wren wondered if she was already a burden. But because she was exhausted, and because she hadn’t eaten anything, and because her body was betraying her again, she decided to let whatever happened happen.

Celia’s boyfriend, Landon, carried Wren from the porch and into the shadows of the Eco-Lodge. A biologist of some kind, he was also a father of two and very tender and charming. “Welcome back, Wren!” he said as they went. “That was quite an entrance you made!”

Wren closed her eyes and tried to laugh. “Ivy’s going to kill me.”

“Ivy’s thrilled you’re back,” Landon assured. “We all are. Bluebell Cove isn’t the same without all the Harper girls!”

“Not such a girl anymore,” Wren said. “I feel as old as time.”

“Don’t say that around me,” Landon pretended to scold her. “I’m a lot older than you.”

Ivy hurried around the front of them, jangling her key to open the front door of the old Harper place.

“Just put me on the couch for now,” Wren said to Landon.

Landon turned and draped her gently on the sofa, then stepped back and put his hands on his hips. He didn’t seem to know what else to do. Celia and Juliet came in a few seconds later. Celia kissed Landon, thanked him, and said, “Head back to the party. I’ll be there in a little bit.”

Wren waved a meek hand at Landon. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing,” Landon said before he disappeared, leaving the four Harper sisters in the living room of the home where they’d all grown up.

Silence tightened in the room. Wren tried to pull herself upright so she could look her sisters in the eye, but Ivy again insisted, “Stay down.” She disappeared into the kitchen to get a water bottle with a straw so Wren could remain horizontal, while Juliet spread a blanket over her and Celia asked her what else she needed.

“I’m just a bit hungry,” Wren said, which was the understatement of the year.

Juliet left for a bit to fetch food from the party, returning with a plate of hummus, guacamole, tofu tacos, and refried beans. Wren wasn’t sure how to eat everything while lying on the couch, so she put the plate on the end table and folded her hands over her stomach. Celia, Juliet, and Ivy watched her anxiously, waiting for answers.

Finally, Ivy barked out, “You haven’t been monitoring your Graves’ disease, have you?”

It wasn’t a question. Wren rolled her eyes into the back of her head.

“This isn’t my Graves’ disease,” she said. “I’m just exhausted from my trip.”

“Where are you coming from?” Juliet asked.

“I was in Athens this morning,” Wren said. “I’ve been all over Greece since May.”

“Why didn’t you call to say you were coming?” Ivy demanded.

Wren sighed. Although she knew the answer, explaining this was difficult. Too much time had passed between phone calls. There was too much to explain.

“You like the drama of it, I guess,” Ivy blurted.

“That’s cruel,” Juliet said to Ivy, frowning. “We’re so thrilled you’re back, Wren! Really.”

“But you need to be taken care of,” Ivy said. “We’ll help you get better, and then you’ll just leave again. Is that how it’s going to go?”

“Ivy,” Celia said darkly. “Give her a break, okay?”

Ivy closed her eyes. Wren imagined her counting to ten in her head.

“I don’t have any plans to leave right away,” Wren offered meekly. “I just need a place to rest for a while. Maybe it was unfair to assume I could rest here.”