Page 51 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

HENRY

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Marjorie Brown : I’ve been in such a good mood that I deserve to be taken down a few notches. Got anything mean for me? You know you want to ...

Comments:

Kerry Winsor : @ Marjorie Brown I’m not over you calling me fat!

Mark Bell : Or the time you made me lose a drinking game in my own bar.

SherriffMike Finch : You also will not update your tags. Good grief, woman, you’re gonna get a ticket from anyone else!

Hu Gh : This is a fun game. You suck.

Marjorie Brown : I did NOT consent to this! Henrietta did this when I left my phone unlocked. She’s not as nice as you think she is!!!

The whole town square was alight with celebration.

Kerry had arranged for banners and balloons to be brought out, and as the person who’d maintained the square, I’d told her where to put them all.

She’d gone one step further, deeming that we should make a collective to ensure Strawberry Springs stayed beautiful, and I’d somehow agreed.

Now, she sent me texts with her plans. Most of them wouldn’t work, but some could easily improve the town.

But today, she was with a sea of other people. I’d seen everyone in town individually, but never all together like this. It showed how excited people were to have the library up and running.

As Wren’s boyfriend, I got special privileges. I was closer up, which helped, considering how loud everything was for the library’s opening. I focused my attention on running my eyes over every inch of the new space, wondering how Wren had made this all happen.

In just a few months, the library was alive again. It had been turned from an eyesore to a beautiful space. That was what I wanted to feel for the day. Pure joy for Wren.

She and I had already discussed a quiet night back at my place, so while I was pushing myself by not wearing my earplugs and being around the whole town at once, I knew it was going to calm down soon.

For now, I got to take it all in.

Wren and I had arrived together, but one of the assistants had insisted she use some type of new mascara, so she’d been delayed while they put that on her. She’d rolled her eyes, but told me to go hang out with the town while she finished up.

When she was finally ready, the entire town clapped when they saw her. Even from where I was standing, I saw her freckled cheeks darken as she gave everyone a wave.

They all silenced when Jude came out too. I could tell he was ready for the applause, and the town’s refusal to be friendly with him ensured he’d never come back.

Good.

Filming started with Wren and Jude talking to the camera. Even though she was next to a man she didn’t like, she still glowed when gushing about the library. It was obvious she was proud of it.

They let us in shortly after. Even though I had started out ahead of everyone else, they all swarmed to get in.

I could see why. The inside was as beautiful as the outside.

Maybe even more so. There was color and books everywhere, like a painting come to life.

I’d seen it every step of the way, but nothing prepared me for the final walkthrough.

Despite the near chaos, it was incredible to see the town’s reactions to the space. I focused on one at a time, taking it all in.

“It’s so beautiful!” Henrietta said, tears in her eyes. “Can you believe we get to work here?”

“No, I really can’t.” Marjorie’s voice was quiet. “I thought this day would never come.”

It was rare that she was so serious.

On the other side, Kerry followed her son, Tommy, as he excitedly talked about all the books he wanted to read. He bounced around like a little ball of energy.

“We’ll never leave,” she said with a laugh. “To think, all it took to get you to read was a library!”

I didn’t get a chance to see anyone else’s reactions because I had an armful of Wren. She’d launched herself at me and I pulled her into the air while I squeezed her tight.

“The face!” she said as she pulled away. “You made the face!”

“What face did I make?”

“The look of shock and awe. My favorite one.”

I remembered when we’d been in the square and she’d grabbed me by my arms when she’d mentioned she was excited for me to see the finished product. And here I was now, with her in my arms.

If only I’d known then.

“But while you’re making the face I was waiting for, I still need to know what you think.”

“I think it’s incredible. Just like I knew it would be.”

“For once, I agree. A lot of the time, I’m fixing something to simply fix it. But this felt ...”

“Magical?” I asked.

“Yes. Just like the town slogan says.” She pointed to the mural behind me. I turned and couldn’t help but look at everything we had in this updated version of the town.

“It looks magical,” I said. “And I haven’t even seen the upstairs yet.”

Her hand slid into mine. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

We walked up the stairs, and I was greeted with more books than I thought possible. It was quiet up here in the new space. I took a moment to enjoy the reprieve from the noise. “You got everything .”

“Oh yeah, it’ll take everyone a long time to make their way through these. Mollie said the original was endless. I tried to make it match.”

I perused the shelves, looking at each genre that was available, but came to the end of the room sooner than expected. There once had been an unsafe overhang here. Now it was a white wall with a wooden door.

“Did you wall this off?”

“Yeah, I did.” She pushed open a door to a meeting room. The lights were off, but when she flicked them on, I saw a couch, table, and chairs.

“A study room?” I asked. “I thought those were downstairs.”

“They are,” she replied. “These are quiet rooms.” One of her hands traced the wall. “They’re soundproof.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I knew this area was a little too big, but I got the idea while I was looking up things to help you. A lot of people struggle with things being too much. Now they have a safe space.”

My eyes grew wide as she talked, and my heart skipped a beat. “You’re incredible.”

“It’s what anyone would have done.”

“No,” I said, grabbing her hand. “Trust me, there aren’t a lot of people who would put this much thought into something like this.

You were planning to be here temporarily, and you could have done this quickly to get out of here to work on other things.

But you didn’t. It goes to show what kind of person you are. ”

“Thank you,” she said. “It’s still a little hard for me to accept compliments, but I’ll get there.”

“You will.”

“Do you need some time to enjoy the quiet?” she asked. “I know the sea of people was a lot.”

It was tempting to take her up on her offer, but I wanted to see it all. Shaking my head, I brought her in for a kiss, sliding my hands in her hair.

“Don’t let this go too far,” she whispered. “The cameras might have followed us.”

“They didn’t,” I murmured into her mouth.

She pulled away, frowning. “Really? They didn’t?”

Looking out into the main room, there were a few people who had made it upstairs, but no cameras.

“They could be interviewing Jude.”

Wren’s lips pursed. “I’m gonna go check.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Are you sure? I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I’m sure you will be, but I’m celebrating you today. There’s no reason I can’t go downstairs with you.”

She eyed me, and while it was a lot, I was so happy for her that I didn’t care. I grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the quiet room.

We headed downstairs into the fray again, but the cameras were gone. Wren checked all the corners while I looked out the open door.

I blinked when I saw an older version of Wren. She had flowing hair and was in a sundress and heavy makeup. Madison was with her, and she was getting a mic pack on.

All of the joy melted out of my body. There was no way they could have ... Why would they have done this of all things?

“Shit,” I muttered.

“What?” Wren asked as she walked up to me. The second she saw the woman, her whole body tensed.

“Please tell me that’s not your mother.”

Wren took in every inch of the woman. “That’s exactly who it is.” All of the excitement was gone from her face and her cheeks were turning a deep red. “I can’t ... I never thought I’d see her again. Why is she here? Is it for the show?”

“This might be the finale. Something to get people talking.”

“No,” she said. “ No , they wouldn’t.”

The disbelief in her only added to my anger. This was her day to celebrate, to feel nothing but happiness after all the work she’d put into this.

“I think they would.” My voice was low.

“I can’t. I need to think . I need to get out of here.”

“Go to the quiet rooms. Lock the door.”

She nodded before darting off. I watched her go, wondering if I should follow. Noises were blending together. I was angrier than I had been in a long time. In any other situation, I would have cooled off. Walked away and thought it through.

But they were actively hurting Wren. That was just unacceptable.

I hadn’t been in town yet when Cain had let his anger get the best of him, but when people told me about it, I had always wondered what could make someone lose their cool in such a way.

Now I knew.

“What the hell?” I asked as I stormed out of the library. “Her mother, really?”

A hand landed on my shoulder. “Come on, man. It’s just?—”

“Don’t touch me, Jude.” My voice was low and deeper than I’d usually let myself be. “This is what you people do, huh? Whatever’s good for the cameras? If you knew a single thing about her, you’d know this is fucking unacceptable.”

All the voices quieted down. In the back of my mind, I knew that I shouldn’t do this so publicly. I didn’t need the town to see me like this.

But fuck anything I was afraid of. Wren had run like her life depended on it. Whatever happened, I would deal with it later.

Madison rolled her eyes, unfazed. “We needed a good finale. When I did research on Wren, I saw that she never talked about her mother. What better way to end a show than to have Jude find her?”

Jude was going to take the credit for this? “What, so you could paint him as a caring boyfriend when he’s never cared about her at all?”

“Hey, I care—” he tried to interject.

“What’s her favorite color then?” I asked.

His face went blank.

“I thought so,” I muttered. “You never cared to know shit about her. You never cared about anything. None of you have! Despite the fact that she worked her ass off, you’d make her face the woman who left her.”

“That’s an interesting way to refer to me,” a smooth voice said. “But I suppose I can’t complain too much. You seem to care about her very much. It’s ... interesting.”

I slowly turned. She sounded like Wren but ... wrong. Like she was colder. “It’s easy to.”

I didn’t have anything to say to the woman who’d left her. I didn’t care about her excuses or whatever she’d used to defend herself.

She gave me none of that. “You’re not what I imagined for her.”

“You’d have to know her to have a good idea of what’s good for her.”

“So defensive. How long have you known her again?” Wren’s mom tilted her head. “Not as long as I have, that’s for sure.”

“Not as lo—lady, you haven’t talked to her for years .”

“I’m sure she told you some version of the truth.”

The gall of this woman. I opened my mouth to give a sharp retort, but Madison interrupted.

“Does this really matter? Go get Wren.”

“No,” I said. “If you think I’m making her do this, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Whatever,” she muttered. “Hey! You! Old man, go get Wren!”

Hugh slowly turned, his face in a grimace. “I don’t take orders from you!”

“All right, I’ll get someone else. How about you?” She pointed to Atticus. “Can you get Wren?”

He crossed his arms. “I’m not a fan of forcing someone into a confrontation they aren’t ready for.”

“Oh, please. You don’t even know her.”

“I know of her. And I’m not a jerk.” Atticus shook his head and walked off.

Madison found someone else. They turned her down too. After the fourth or fifth person, she stomped her foot. “What is with the people of this town!”

“Seems like you’ve hit a wall,” I said. “Now, I’m gonna make sure Wren is actually okay. Then we’ll figure out a plan.” I turned to the rest of the town. “Make sure no one follows me.”

Madison yelled my name as I walked away, but I didn’t stop.

Not until I saw Wren.