Page 52 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

WREN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Jade Clark : God damn, I’ve never seen Henry so MAD.

Comments:

Marjorie Brown : I heard him from inside. What the hell happened?

Jade Clark: The show brought Wren’s mom without asking her. Apparently they haven’t talked in years.

Atticus Thompson: Absolutely deplorable behavior. They got what they deserved.

Jade Clark : Seriously. Henry needs to show that side of him more often. Maybe Hugh will take him seriously.

Kerry Winsor : I MISSED THE WHOLE THING? WHAT?! Is Wren okay?

Jade Clark: No idea. This is a freshly developing situation. Just low-key proud of Henry. He said what I was thinking.

There was a loud knock at the door. I ignored it, but when it happened again, I peered out.

“It’s—” I froze when I saw Henry. “Hey.”

“You okay?” His voice was tight, just like it had been when he’d been overwhelmed before and gone off on Jude.

My feelings crashed even more.

I opened the door to let him in.

“What the hell were they thinking?” he asked. “I mean, really, bringing your mother here?”

“Are you okay?”

He turned to me. “Am I okay? Who cares about me?”

“I do. You’re so angry. I know you hate that.”

“I’m angry because they hurt you.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And they don’t seem to fucking care that they did.”

“Did you talk to them?”

“‘Talk’ isn’t the word I would use.”

Shit. He’d yelled? In front of the whole town? Wasn’t that exactly what he’d been trying to avoid?

“Henry, you should?—”

“No.” He shook his head. “We’re not talking about me. I wanna be sure you’re okay. And if you need to leave, then we leave.”

“But—”

“Wren, we need to handle this thing with your mother. Everything else can wait.”

My heart lurched, but he wasn’t wrong. I was hiding out like a coward when I had things to do.

“I’m mostly fine.” At his narrowed eyes, I added, “I am . I’m honestly just shocked she’s even here. At first, I thought she was an actress. I mean, she’s avoided me for so long, why let it change now?”

Had she missed me? Did she have some explanation for not ever reaching out? These were questions I didn’t expect to ever have the answers to.

Until this moment.

“What are you feeling right now?”

There were too many things happening. My heart pounded. My chest was tight. Honestly, it felt like I was having a heart attack. I took a shaky breath, remembering how tense Henry was. I didn’t want to add to anything.

“I’ll survive once this is over.”

“Wren, you don’t have to do anything right now.”

“I could get answers.”

“Do you need them?”

My fists tightened. To anyone else, it should have been easy to write off Mom as a monster. And ninety percent of the time, I would agree. But she was here . And I needed to know if there was some other reason she left. Or if she regretted it.

I had a feeling Henry wouldn’t like that answer.

I shrugged. “I still have to finish filming.”

“You don’t have to do anything.”

“Henry, she’s here.” I shook my head. “I mean, I’m shocked, and I didn’t know what to do, but at least I could get some answers after faking it for the camera.”

“Are you convincing me, or yourself?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” I replied, slumping my shoulders. “Honestly, this feels like a fever dream. And you seem tense.”

“That’s an understatement. I can’t believe they would do this.”

“Neither can I, but they did. They obviously had this planned out.” I forced myself to move. “So, I’ll deal with it, and hopefully figure out where the hell she’s been for the last decade.”

“And if this hurts you?”

“It won’t be any worse than when she abandoned me.” At least I hoped it wouldn’t. “The way I see it, once this is over, it’s over.”

“I hate this.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “You stay here and calm down. I’ve got this.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, and I brushed past him. My feet stilled as I got to the door and I thought about turning back, but I knew I needed this season to be over with.

I felt his heat at my back and I blinked. “What are you doing here, you?—”

“Wren. You’re not facing your mom alone.”

Would she tell me the truth if Henry was there? I had no idea. I’d never considered the idea that she would ever meet him.

Turning back to Mom, I was able to take her in without shock running through me. She had barely aged in the many years since I’d seen her. She was like a doll version of me.

“Are we ready to film?” I asked before I could stop myself. Everyone’s eyes turned to me. Most of the townspeople looked shocked, as if they didn’t expect me to come out at all.

Mom turned, her eyes traveling up and down my frame. I saw her pause to consider me for a second, and tension shot up my spine.

Then she smiled. “I’m so ready,” she said. “Look at you, all grown up!”

“Start filming!” Madison yelled and got out of the shot.

Mom walked up and hugged me. I wasn’t sure if I returned it or not.

Had she just ... complimented me?

“H-hi.”

“Oh, it’s been too long. You’re as tall as your dad was!”

“Not all the way. I’m a few inches shorter.”

“Still, you have his personality. It’s one of my favorite things about you.” Her hand touched my face. “I’m so glad Jude found me.”

I blinked. Jude found her? There was no way. My eyes cut to him, and he was playing the same man who I’d almost thought liked me.

My stomach felt like the second of weightlessness on a roller coaster before plummeting down to earth.

“Um, thanks.”

“Cut!” Madison called. “That’s it. That’s what we were looking for!”

Mom stepped away from me and Henry was at my back. “We should go,” he said.

Going sounded like a great idea, but I turned to Mom, who was still looking at me.

“Actually, do you mind if we talk for a minute? It’s nearly dinnertime, and I want to catch up with my little girl.” Mom linked her arm through mine.

Henry only looked at me, and I saw an eyebrow raise with a silent question.

Is this what you want?

I knew that no matter my answer, he would help me through it. If I wanted to run, he’d drive the getaway car. If I wanted to stay, he would do that too.

“I think dinner is fine,” I said. “There’s a diner around here.”

“I’ll come too,” Henry offered.

“But I haven’t had one-on-one girl time in so long. Can we all talk later? I’ve wasted so much time here. I just want her all to myself for a few hours!”

She wanted me all to herself?

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She nodded. “Totally sure.”

“Okay, then.” I turned to Henry. “I guess I’ll meet you at the house.”

Henry’s entire body was a rigid line, and I knew he needed to be home. He needed to recover from the surprise and anger he’d been feeling. I doubted he would admit it. He probably hadn’t even realized what had happened yet. He would likely be devastated when he did.

“I’ll ask one more time. Are you sure?”

Mom tried to cut in. “Of course she’s?—”

“I’d like to hear it from her.”

Despite everything, my cheeks warmed. “I’m sure. Thank you for looking out for me.”

“No problem, Wren.” He placed a kiss on my cheek and then he was gone.

“So, the diner?” Mom asked.

I nodded and led her toward it.

“This is a quaint little town,” she said.

“I like it.” I tried to tamp down the instinctual feeling to defend myself. I hadn’t known it would be there, but old habits died hard. Even when they were over a decade old.

“I’m sure you do.” Mom opened the door to the diner. “The people seem to like you. They’ve been watching.”

I wondered if Tammy had seen us walk in. Would she approve of this? She hated Mom.

I didn’t get my answer right away. Tammy wasn’t even at the front.

“Slow service,” Mom muttered after we waited for a few minutes.

“I think we can just seat ourselves. Tammy’s always busy.”

I walked to a table before she could say anything else. I’d told Henry I would be fine, but every part of me screamed that I’d done something wrong.

Maybe Tammy would come out soon. She would know what to do.

“You know, I’ve followed the show since the beginning,” Mom said.

“You have?”

“The second I saw the name, I knew I’d be watching.” She smiled, but it didn’t fill me with joy. Only fear. “Why did you not let them do something with ... this?”

She gestured to all of me. Every single inch. I looked down. I was in work pants and my green T-shirt. It wasn’t elegant, but it was me. “I didn’t want them to.”

Mom laughed. “Then I don’t know how you got yourself into a love triangle. Unless all of it is fake, of course. I know about Jude. Madison told me it was for the cameras. But Henry?” She leaned forward. “There’s just no way.” There it was. The plummet to earth I was dreading.

“Did you bring me here to insult me?”

“I’m giving you some motherly advice.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, because you gave me a lot of that over the years.”

“You’re the one who acted miserable around me.”

“You made me miserable!”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, make it all my fault.”

“You didn’t even reach out.”

“How was I supposed to know your number? You could have changed it!”

“I never changed my number. I was always waiting for you to call.”

And I had been, whether I knew it or not. There was always a version of me, a little girl in overalls and pigtails, that waited for the mother I wanted to have.

Over time, I shut her away. I had thought she would never get her dream. Now I knew for sure.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You kept the number your dad got you in high school?”

“I did. Spam calls and all. And you never once tried to reach out. Not even on social media.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t come here to do this.”

“Then why did you come here?” I asked. “Why do any of this?”

“Because I was hoping you wouldn’t be the same stubborn girl who never did what I said!” she snapped. “And yet you are. You’re wearing cargo pants!”

“They’re practical.”

“You’re just like your father.”

“And? Unlike you, he was there for me.”

“And he died alone .”

Rage made my spine go rigid. Had she really said that? “He had me .”

“And who will you have, huh? Henry isn’t gonna stay.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I heard about him. I heard he’s a doctor who came to see you at the same time every day. How he swept you off your feet with little stolen moments, but he’s way out of your league. He’s the kind of man you marry , and no man would ever want this.” She gestured to all of me again.

My rage turned into hurt. Here my mother was, sitting in front of me for the first time in over fifteen years, and she hated me all the same. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I? It’ll start with resentment, Wren. How you mess up his schedule.” Which I’d done. “How you never listen.” He had to order me sometimes. “It might be cute now, but as the years pass, he’ll hate you. He’ll hate what you do. How you are. I know it’ll happen, because it’s what I did.”

I didn’t have an answer for her. I couldn’t speak.

Suddenly, I would take Jude’s comments. I would take them and be happy. I would take Madison’s eye rolls. They were nothing compared to this .

“Save him the trouble, Wren. If you’re so dedicated to being dusty from construction, constantly battling the kind of woman you should be, then you’re not worth it.” She stood, grabbed her purse, and left.

And wow , the second time was worse.

I looked down at my outfit. Should I have dressed up for the show today? Should I have let them do my makeup?

Should I have given in?

Henry would tell me no. Tammy would too.

I wanted to believe them. I’d spent years fighting back against that very thought. If it were anyone else, I would have told them to fuck off. I was who I was. But this wasn’t just anyone. This was my mom .

For my entire life, there was never a question of changing myself.

And look where that had gotten me. Mom had left . What if I had changed? Would she have stayed?

I wanted to say she was wrong, but she wasn’t entirely.

She wasn’t wrong about Henry. I did mess him up.

I took him out of his comfort zone time and time again.

Since I’d started staying with him, he’d been late to the clinic and kept putting off what he had to do, all because he was talking to me.

Today he’d pushed himself past his breaking point.

All because I was throwing him off.

He didn’t say that, but how long did I have until he did?

Tears gathered in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I looked up and saw Tammy walking out with a massive grin on her face.

“Wren!” she said. “I’m so happy to see you.”

At least someone was. “Yeah?”

“I am. Not only did you open the library today, which I need to see, but you’ll never guess who’s here!”

“I have a few guesses,” I said, thinking of Mom.

“Kelsey!”

A young woman appeared at her side. She was Tammy’s height with brown hair and dyed tips and the same blue eyes.

Her daughter? The one she cared about?

Fuck.

“Wow,” I managed to say. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Kelsey replied. “I can’t believe I’m back, it’s been too long. I’m even staying with Mom again.”

“Long-term?” I asked.

“I’ll be trying to find a job here.” She slung an arm around Tammy, who leaned into it. “Mom’s thrilled.”

So, Tammy had her daughter back. Her real daughter.

She had no need for me anymore. Why would she? I was a temporary replacement for the real thing.

“That’s so exciting,” I said.

Tammy eyed me. “How did today go? Can I get you a drink, you look?—”

“Actually, I have to get back. There are some final things to film.” I stood and gave them what I hoped was a decent smile. “I’m so happy for you both.”

The second I was out on the sidewalk, I broke out into a run. The crew was packing up, and I caught my break in the garden behind the library.

The irises had finished their bloom a long time ago, but I could remember Henry telling me to find them.

Only now, it hurt to think about. I needed a voice of reason. I pulled out my phone.

Are you free?

Mollie

Unfortunately, no. They didn’t get the whole scan done, so I have to stay another night. Booooo! At least Mom drove out to take us to dinner.

I didn’t answer. There was no need to. Mollie was busy with her family, the one she’d made. The one she’d never resent like mine did.

I wasn’t sure when it happened, but my space in Strawberry Springs had been filled. Mollie had her baby to plan for. Tammy had her daughter.

And Henry? Henry had no room for me in the first place.

My phone buzzed with a reminder. I had twelve hours to get to my first meeting on the home renovation in Nashville.

I took a shaky breath. Once I was gone, they’d all forget about me. Mom certainly had.

But now I thought it might be better that way.