Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“I’ll see you when I get back,” I told him.
He leaned in and kissed me. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a kiss to kiss me or to keep the story of our fake relationship going in front of my mother.
“Godspeed in the store,” he said, giving me another peck before he tossed on his jacket and headed out to meet the other guys.
Mom looked at me with a smirk on her face.
I raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing, nothing. It’s just good seeing you like this. You’re happy with him. I love that.”
“It’s not a big deal, Mom.”
“It is,” she disagreed. “I know what happened last year with Cassie and Daniel hurt you.”
My stomach knotted up instantly from hearing their names. I tried to shrug it off. “That’s ancient history.”
“It’s not,” she said with a frown. “But you’re getting better. And the way that man looks at you, Holly….” She whistled low. “That’s the same way your father looks at me. That boy is smitten.”
My face heated. If only Mom knew Kai was playing the part. It sounded like Kai deserved an Oscar award for playing it so well. Mom couldn’t tell the slightest that Kai and I weren’t an item.
“He’s pretty wonderful,” I honestly stated. “He’s a good one.”
“And so are you.” She waved me off. “But I’m going to need that butter, so if you could get a move on, sweetheart.”
I hurried away, hoping to have a clean in and out at the grocery store. Knowing how my hometown worked, though, that probably wasn’t the case. The second I pulled into the driveway of the grocery store, I felt uneasy. The packed parking lot meant the store was full of people who knew me.
I put on my winter hat, hoping that would help disguise me. I darted into the store with my head down. Luckily, I knew that grocery store inside and out, and I could get to the dairy section with my head down, zigzagging through the crowds of people.
The moment I made it to the butter, I sighed with relief. I looked up, reached for it, and then grumbled to myself when I heard the loudest, most gossiping voice in all of Birch Lake calling out my name.
“Well, if it isn’t sweet ole Holly Jackson! As I live and breathe!” Daisy Churchill shouted, holding a carton of eggs in her hands. “Rumor had it you were back in town for the holidays. Stacey Lynn said she saw you pull up in a rental car with a handsome gentleman the other day. Is that your boyfriend? Do you have a boyfriend, Holly?” she asked, marching my way. Daisy was an older lady who spent most of her time on her front porch, talking loudly about everyone who drove by with her husband, Earl. She currently had hair rolls in her blond locks, and even though there wasn’t a cigarette hanging from her mouth, I could smell the scent of tobacco drenched in her clothing. There were two things Daisy loved in life: tobacco and gossip.
I felt the eyes of the bystanders fall upon me. The whispering didn’t take long to start as Daisy kept yapping away. I held a pack of butter tightly in my grip, wondering what God had against me. Who did I piss off in a past life to end up in that situation? Out of everyone in town who could’ve spotted me, it had to be nosy, loud Daisy Churchill. If there was one thing Daisy knew how to do, it was drawing in a crowd.
“Hi, Daisy. It’s good to see you. I was hopping in quick to grab the butter and—”
“I was sitting here thinking,” she said, aggressively cutting me off, “Wondering about the last time I saw you. It had to be last Christmas Eve. Oh, sweetheart, I didn’t even get a chance to offer you my condolences after Cassie and Daniel ran off with one another. What a shame that that happened to you. I bet you were so embarrassed. Why, I wouldn’t have shown my face around town, either. I get why you were avoiding Birch Lake.”
Most of the time, condolences were offered at funerals, not weddings. Leave it to Daisy to rub salt in those wounds. The day my hope and trust in people died. RIP, Holly.
“I wasn’t avoiding. I was just busy.” I pushed out a smile, mainly because people were watching. “You live, and you learn, Daisy. I’m sorry, I really must get—”
“Holly.”
The moment I heard my name, every hair on my body stood.
I knew that voice.
A few seconds ago, I thought the worst sound I could’ve heard was Daisy’s. That was until Cassie’s voice broke into the conversation. I turned around to find my ex-best friend standing there with a look of shock. My eyes moved from her stare down to her stomach.