Chapter 52

fifty-two

River

Tuesday

While anxiously pacing the basement stockroom in an effort to work on inventory, code for be left alone, Delia walks in.

It's almost time to meet at the salon. Motherfucking hell, really? She stares me down as I swallow hard.

"Get it over with. She's gone? It's my fault, right?" I scrub my face groaning out, "Fuck, I really screwed up." I'm dusting clean bottles over a second time to seem busy. The silence stretches on causing my insides to twist and turn.

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to sit out the time in the stockyard for her later today." Glancing at the time on my phone I correct myself, "Soon, I'm waiting for Anna Lucia. It might not fix things, but I've felt like this was all my fault, so I asked to be the one in the penalty box."

I fidget more as I continue, "I know it won't save us, but maybe it will take one obstacle away. Make it easier."

The silence stretches on, like she's just letting me spin out and I eat it up, "Goddamnit, I didn't want to hurt her, Deals. I didn't tell her because there was never a good time to tell her!" My voice is getting louder and deeper as the anger fills. The desire to prove something to Delia as a proxy for Lily grows with each statement.

"I tried, you know! I really, really tried. I found myself thinking about it, and trying to make it happen. I just didn't ever want to make her run away. I didn't want to hurt her."

"Telling her was going to hurt her," she interjects.

"Yeah," I sigh, "telling her was always going to suck and I was never going to want to do it."

"No shit, you fool," Delia replies dryly, pity filling her eyes like she's looking at a child who learned about Santa.

"You could have told Seth, Lee, Stef, Nessa, your mom, or you know… me?" Delia matches my temper, before hitting back with her own groans.

"Ugh, men, I swear. Why do we put up with you all?" She tosses her hands up before continuing, "Lily had already decided she was staying and did the same thing you did; went to the elders. She's waiting for Prudence. Holy fuck, you said soon?"

"River, what did you say?" Delia's demanding tone and arm motions nearly topple a box of empty bottles for the next batch. We catch it in the nick of time and recognition flashes between us: we're both going to be locked in. Together.

"Okay, boss, go. Now. Take a shower. Calm the fuck down because you look like hell. You're going to listen to me clearly now. No, dumbass, she isn't mad at you, she was shocked that it could have been prevented. By Grant owning up to his own shit. Does it suck you didn't tell her? Sure. It sucks you didn't tell any of us. Fortunately for you, she's not running yet. So take this opportunity, because you won't have one like it again."

I'm slack jawed and staring off, unable to focus on anything in particular.

"She told us she's done letting anyone—not her parents, not her ex, not the weirdness of this place—keep her from the people who love her. The people she loves. That includes you, but you already know that."

I nod and mumble back to myself, she loves me , like I haven't heard it before .

"Your anxiety is all kinds of misplaced, dude. Did you talk to your mom?"

I nod again, unable to get words past my dry throat.

"So Elizabeth guided you on how to make a plan, and you went to the Salvatores? Well, they went to the Kellys who were all waiting for Lily when she got Peter Pan from boarding. Prudence dropped off a bunch of very Pru things this morning, like soccer socks for padding," she says.

"Oh that's smart, I should dig out mine," I interject.

"Go. Prep, because neither of you will have anywhere to go. Maybe you can both come clean about any remaining secrets. If you ask me, you both want this to work. You've both been growing towards each other, she's slowing down, and you. Well, look at this place, look at what you made! Your trips with her introduced you to new things and you brought all the best parts back. If I see it, then I bet Elizabeth does too." She's boring holes into me with her glare.

"Anyway," she brightens slightly, "I came down to say I did the draft schedules for the coming month for you to review. Also, I did payroll and paid a few bills and we're still in the black. So really, there's only one thing left to do."

"Beg her for forgiveness?" I guess.

"Tell her the truth. The whole truth." She rolls her eyes at me. "You're both in the stocks which, God, why do they even want to use them? Ugh, this town is so fucking weird."

Shrugging I say, "I don't know, but I love it weird."

I run upstairs and take a quick shower, trim my beard, apply deodorant and a light amount of cologne. I jump into a pair of jeans and a bar shirt before adding a pair of old soccer socks, thick and tall, just like Delia said Pru told Lily to do. Sliding into my running shoes and pulling on my Mets hat, I grab my phone and wallet and walk towards the salon .

The entire Salvatore family is there, nobody wants to miss this show.

Tina has her iPad open to some influencers page on a shopping app, and they're listening to her go on about the latest makeup trends and tips.

I overhear Sofia mention, "Isn't that the school Delia went to in London? I heard that she learned about events and bridal. Could be good for one of us to learn too. Maybe?" I'm so curious to hear what they say about Delia, but get whisked to an upstairs office.

Walking in, I see James Kelly, and, "Mom?" I'm really confused.

"Hi honey. I was on the committee that year, don't you remember? I'm here on official business, let's get this over with. George River Hendrix, do you hereby swear to replace Lily Jayne Long in the stockyard?"

I nod in confusion at Mom, so she continues, "Do you hereby authorize the township of Peacock Springs to record this in public records for posterity?"

Dropping the formal tone, she softens to add, "Honey, you need to say yes for it to count for her."

"Alright," I hesitate, "yes."

On a nudge she again resumes her mothering tone with, "Just say yes to all of this so we can get a move on. You want to be first there. Pru's doing this with her now too."

Blinking a few times I nod before affirming, "Right, right. Yes. I agree to whatever else you have on there. Did you agree to bathroom breaks and food breaks? That's my condition." The three officials laugh.

"What is with you two? Both of you keep questioning this. Do you really think we want to see you covered in your own mess that bad? Text me if you need to go."

James and Ava Marie head down towards the front of the salon, while Mom takes me by the elbow and leads me out another staircase to the side door.

We enter the dim alley between the salon and Pages. The bookstore door opens and Seth is hauling trash bags towards the shared dumpster .

"Good luck." He shakes his head and smirks before heading back inside.

Mom gives me a quick hug, hands on my arms and looks at me with her soft fondness that is usually reserved for graduations or big accomplishments.

"River, we have a minute before this kicks off and I wanted to say…" She's misty eyed. You'd think she was shipping me off to war and not to sit for three hours on my ass in the middle of town.

"River, you've really grown into your name. You go with the flow, you come and go as you need and don't fight anyones nature, choosing to simply wind or bend around obstacles. Don't bend this time, you've stepped up for the bar, for the family, and for me. You don't want to lose her again." She squeezes my arms hard, almost shaking me, before adding, "Then don't."

"But, how can I be sure?"

"You can't ever be sure. But come on, it's not like your dad and I are perfect. We're not always on the same page. But the one thing we didn't do was keep the hard things from each other. Frankly, when you do that, you hurt yourself. You've been trying to prove yourself by doing it on your own, when asking for help was the biggest sign of your growth." She musses my hair, brushing it off my forehead.

"Mom." I swat her hand but my tone is soft.

"Thank you for asking me for help. Anyway," she waves off her sidepoint, "Belinda and Neal seem to have moved to their beach house temporarily. Between us, I think that's for the best. I'm trying, but she's not budging. You'll need to keep being her advocate, but also her friend, her partner, which means telling her the truth even when it's hard. It means you'll need to want to hear the truth too. So, if you are ready to commit to being the kind of man we raised you to be, let's go."

She places a hand on my cheek and I realize it's not off to war, it's the look I saw Lee's mom give him when they got engaged. It's releasing me fully to someone else's care. The corners of my eyes are misty, and I can't get my words out so I nod before walking arm in arm with my mom into the sunlight.

Approaching the back of the square across from town hall, we see the two cement pillars sitting four feet tall. There's a wood plank with a semi-circular cut out sitting close to the ground, while another is held by James and Miss Nicole. I sit down on the cement bench and stretch my legs long until my ankles rest on the lower wooden panel.

From this vantage point, I can see straight to the archway of The Featherweight. The sidewalk—where Lily crashed into me months ago and turned my life upside down—winds its way through the grass before me. To my left is the florist, Seth & Gemma's businesses in their shared space, and the salon. To the right over my shoulder is Coffee Crumbs and town hall. Then along the side of the park is the library, the fitness studio, and the vet clinic lined up perfectly with the peacock pond and house. Over my left shoulder I can almost see Beagle's Bagels, Pru's Tea & Tarot shop, and the butcher shop.

I can see the people pretending to be busy in each, but trying to press against the windows. Looking down at my phone, the clock reads 3:15 p.m., and I see Lily come towards the corner of the salon. Outside, Jim is still in his scrubs from work and Prudence stands by the corner of the park. Holding the tote bag strap on her shoulder for dear life, Lily approaches with Nessa. After the last forty-eight hours, it is hard to not want to run over and hold her close.

She's wearing a pair of black leggings and a large white T-shirt covered by an open zip up hooded sweatshirt in a deep teal. On her feet are high school logo soccer socks: one purple, the other blue. She's come out in full force with our town colors, that's for certain.

Her outfit is completed with a pair of white fashion sneakers. She has her usually large wavy hair pulled into a ponytail through the loop of a baseball cap, dark sunglasses covering those beautiful coffee eyes.

Lily approaches the group and shakes hands with Jim before opening the bag to show Prudence whatever else is along with her. She pulls out a travel mug and I watch as Pru's smile widens.

Has she noticed yet? I'm watching them closely as they make the short walk my way.