Page 10 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

WREN

RWL Superfan Discussion Central

Bethany Perry: [Link: Jude Putman spotted kissing Alana Barnes, heiress to hotel fortune.]

Comments:

Alicia Parrish: OMG! The second season is gonna be so GOOD.

Kerry Winsor: I’m so sad!!! How could he do this to her?

Jamie McCullough: I’m ready for draaaamaaaa. Do you think Wren will finally cry on camera? Ooh, or wear a dress? She’d look so good in one.

Neve Bullock: I have a feeling she’ll get her glow-up. FINALLY!

I twirled the four-leaf clover in my fingers, staring down at it. It was just a plant, yet it made me feel like I was luckier than usual. Like I could do anything.

“I could dry this, right?” I asked Mollie.

“I’m sure you could. Why?”

“It’s cute. And I might always need luck.”

There was a crease in between Mollie’s eyebrows. “You’re usually not so ... sentimental.”

She was right, but it also felt wrong to throw something like this away. “Is it bad?”

“No!” She shook her head. “Absolutely not. You should definitely save it. Being sentimental is a good thing sometimes.”

“There were some scrapbooks in the closet of the guest room. Can I save this in one of those?”

“Yes, of course. And maybe when I get flowers back in the fields, we could add some there too.”

When I went back to Nashville, I would need that. “Yeah, I’ll save all the memories from here. I wonder if Henry has any more things to give me.” Mollie went silent, and I realized how it sounded. “Like, in a friendly way,” I added.

“You sure are friendly with him.”

“So?”

“Tammy said he was single. And he’s cute.”

I gasped. “You’re a taken woman.”

“I am, but I have eyes. He’s sweet and dependable. Though ... you’ve never dated a hot nerd, but there’s a first time for everything.”

“Yeah, because my normal type has gotten me a lot of places lately,” I muttered. “Henry would be ...” I shook my head. “Why are we even talking about this? It’s not even like I could do anything. Whether this grant goes through or not, in a few days, I’ll be dating Jude again.”

Mollie rolled her eyes. “You already know how I feel about that. We’re bringing out the body hiding spots if he says anything else to upset you again.”

“You’d have to take Madison, the director, with you. She’s the one who wanted the romance.”

“The spots can be for more than just men. I’m an equal opportunity murderer when it comes to you.”

I laughed. “It’s so good to hear you sound like yourself again.”

“That’s what happens when you start to take your needs seriously.”

“I am , which is why I’m pushing for this season to be filmed here.”

“But if you find an out, use it.” Her voice was firm. “There’s always something you can do to make things work.”

I thought about it but hit a wall the second I remembered the contract. A renovation show with a side of love. That was what had been promised.

“Let me get this grant figured out,” I said. “Then we plan the rest out.”

She nodded, and we lapsed into silence as we got closer to the farmhouse. I tried not to let my thoughts slip to Henry as she drove.

By the time we were at the farm, my thoughts turned to the grant.

I went inside and looked up everything I could on it, and only found an email address to send my inquiry to.

I shot that off, asking for at least ten years of funding, just to see what they would say.

It was more than they’d give, but I would work with five.

Then I went outside to install the patch on my truck’s tire.

Mollie was busy working with Cain, catching up on all that she’d missed. Apparently, she was hard at work diversifying the crops at the farm and hoped to join the vendors at the local Saturday farmers market soon.

I tried to only feel joy at Mollie’s new life, but it was tinged with the regret that I had missed it.

Hopefully, the season gave me enough time to catch up with her.

I was so happy she had a life and home out here, but I had no idea what life would be like once I went back to Nashville and she remained here.

“Hey,” a young voice said, and I turned to find Eric. “Mollie said you build things.”

A distraction? Perfect. “I do. Need something?”

“Only the greatest marble run of all time. Can you do that?”

“A marble run?” I was hoping to work with wood, but I would take anything I could get. “Sure, lead the way.”

Eric took me upstairs to his room where he had more toys than I could count. He showed me the pieces of the plastic marble run and described the massive setup he wanted.

“I might need a few more if I’m gonna make something this big.”

Just as I said that, he pulled out a huge container of parts.

I wasn’t sure who was more excited, him or me.

As I worked, I realized it was easier to build things with plastic. I didn’t have the worry of it having to hold up to the test of time. As the pieces came together, Eric grew more and more excited.

I did too.

“All right, I think I’ve got it.”

This thing was massive. It was as tall as he was, with multiple places for the marbles to go.

“Do you think they’ll fall out?”

“They shouldn’t,” I said. “But let’s test it.”

They didn’t fall out, not even when they went around the sharp turns and down the drops. Eric watched every second of it like it was his favorite show on TV.

“This is awesome !” He jumped up and down before adding more marbles to the top. “Mollie didn’t tell me you were a genius.”

My cheeks heated. “I don’t know about genius .”

“When she helps me with this, the marbles fall out a lot . And for Dad too.”

“Engineering’s not everyone’s thing.”

“I’m glad it’s yours. I could use a bunk bed soon.”

Now there was an idea. I was getting too close to my deadline for the show to start it now, but I was more than happy to add it to the list to get done either after I did the library or whatever else Madison dragged me to do.

Out of habit, I looked around his room, trying to figure out where to put it. Most people wanted a bunk bed either because they were cool or because they needed to save space, but with a room like Eric’s, I doubted it was the second one.

“Are you at the age where you think bunk beds are super cool?”

“Kinda. But also, Dad and Mollie are talking about things, and I think I’ll have a sibling soon.”

A marble fell out of my hands. “R-really?”

“Yeah. I want them to sleep in my room!”

Mollie would be a great mom, but some days it felt like we were still teenagers. Nowhere near the age of having kids.

Dear God. We were actually almost thirty. How had I never thought about this?

When she’d been with Trevor, the topic of kids never came up, at least not with me. But from what I knew about him, I was worried he’d try to push her before she was ready. Now, seeing how Cain and Mollie functioned with Eric as a family, I could see it.

But would I miss it?

Eric was watching me closely and I didn’t want him running to tell Mollie about any more meltdowns. I took a shaky breath and put on my brightest smile.

“I would be an aunt! Again!”

“Again?”

I gestured to him. “I kinda already am.”

Eric perked up. “With me?”

“Um, duh . But this time, I get to buy them things from the get-go. I’m so excited.”

Eric seemed to believe me and laughed. I was glad I could fool at least one person.

“Wren!” someone yelled as the front door opened.

“Mollie? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, whew . I haven’t run the full field before.” She doubled over. “This is really humbling.”

“Is everything okay? Do you need something?”

“Me? No, I’m good. This is more for you.”

She turned her phone around and showed me a Google search.

It was of Jude.

I gasped. He was making headlines for kissing another woman.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!”

“Curse word!” Eric said.

“Sorry.” I winced. “But the sentiment still stands. How big is the news?”

She bit her lip. “Pretty big. It’s only a matter of time before the Facebook group sees this.”

“What Facebook group?”

“The town one. Sometimes it’s used for useful things. Most of the time it’s for gossip. And this is definitely that.”

Horror dawned on me, making my cheeks hot. “They’ll all think I got cheated on?”

“At least they’ll be on your side.”

“Oh my God . Of all the things he could do, he did this ? And then got caught?”

“Is it time to murder? We can make what you said you found in the library true.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Eric asked. Mollie shushed him.

I groaned, wondering how I was going to look anyone in the eye for the next few days after they all thought Jude was seeing someone else.

Then my phone rang.

“It’s Madison,” I muttered. “Probably calling to tell me the news.”

“Glad I got to you first.” She let out a long breath. “Good luck.”

I was walking into the guest room and shutting the door as I heard Mollie exclaim, “Whoa, look at this marble run! This is so cool!”

I wished I was out there with them, not hitting answer on my phone.

“Glad I caught you.” Madison sounded harried. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but?—”

“Jude was pictured kissing”—I looked at my phone—“a hotel heiress.”

The pinnacle of femininity. Just what he wanted.

“So you saw.”

“I did.”

“We’ll have to launch a campaign to fix this. Wherever you are, you need to come back to Nashville right now. We have work to do on your relationship.”

I jerked back, glad she couldn’t see me. “Our relationship? Do you really think I would stay with him if he cheated on me?”

“It’s not real. We can spin this to?—”

“I don’t want to spin anything. He should have done his job to lay low. I would never get back with him, and doing anything but breaking it off would be disingenuous.”

“This whole thing is disingenuous, Wren. It has been the whole time.”

But back then I thought I had a chance of being with him earnestly.

“Still,” I said. “There have to be consequences for this.”

“ Ugh , if you insist, fine. You can be having a rough patch at the beginning of the season. It’ll make the viewers interested anyway.”

“I’m supposed to forgive him for cheating on me?”

“We’re signed on for another season. You have to.”

“No,” I hissed.

She let out a long sigh and the line went silent for a while. The two of us were brick walls. I wondered who would give first.

“What can I do to get you fully on board?” Madison asked.

I heard an email notification from my phone and I pulled it away for a second to check. My eyes widened when I saw the exact email I needed to see.

Application for STM Grant. Approved. I quickly opened it and saw they’d agreed to the whole ten years of funding.

I had to read it twice. They’d agreed to my massive request? In less than an hour?

There was no way.

But there it was. In writing. And they were asking where to send the money.

Both Tammy and Henry had said it was real, and now I had exactly what I needed to get the library done.

“Hello?” Madison asked in the distance. I put the phone back to my ear.

“I’m here.”

“Did you hear my question?”

“I did,” I said. “And I have an answer.”

“What is it?”

“You come to Strawberry Springs and work on this library.”

She let out another sigh, harsher this time. “But the long-term funding?—”

“I took care of that. The library has ten years of funding.”

“How?”

“A local grant. It’s legit.” Or so I thought it was. “I can send you the approval. And you can look it up too. But this is what I want. The library. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

She was silent for a long time again. “Send me the details. If this is real, then you get the library. And I get to make sure the romance happens exactly as I want it to.”

My stomach churned at her words, but I agreed. If I got to work on the library, I would have to force myself to deal with the rest.