Читать книгу The Girl He Used To Love - Amy Vastine - Страница 15
Оглавление“IT’S FUNNY HOW this town can seem familiar and yet so foreign at the same time,” Dean observed as he and Sawyer waited for Faith.
“It’s not funny how long my sister takes when we need to be somewhere.”
“Be happy you have a sister to be annoyed with.”
Sawyer stopped complaining. Chagrined, he took a deep breath and apologized. Dean couldn’t be mad. He knew firsthand how easy it was to take people for granted.
Dean’s gaze drifted back down the street. He wasn’t surprised the bank where his father had worked for the last thirty years hadn’t changed. There was a new gas station on the corner. The old-fashioned gas pumps were a nice touch and made it look like it had been there forever. The movie theater had gotten a facelift and the sign above the hardware store was new. The barber shop where his mom had taken him to get his hair cut as a child had closed and a nail salon stood in its place.
“Here she comes,” Sawyer said, pulling Dean’s attention away from comparing this Main Street to the one in his memory.
Dean knew who the flowers were for the moment he saw Faith making her way to the truck with bouquets in her arms. A familiar unease settled in his stomach.
What could his mother really do to him if he didn’t show up for church? She had nothing to hold over him. She couldn’t ground him or take away his phone. He didn’t live under her roof or have to follow her rules. He was a grown man who could decide where he wanted or didn’t want to go.
He didn’t want to go to the church. He didn’t want to be within a hundred feet of the cemetery. Even sitting in the parking lot would be too close. He’d have to walk back to the farm. He didn’t care how far it was.
“Did you tell Harriet you couldn’t help her on Tuesday because you rescheduled Freddy’s therapy?” Sawyer asked his sister as he got out of the truck so she could get in.
“I don’t want to cancel on her. She asked me to enter the inventory information into the computer. I’ll run over there at lunchtime and get it done quick.”
Dean was again reminded of his sister. Addison had worked at the flower shop all through high school. She had wanted to become a botanist. Dean hated that she’d never got the chance to live out any of her dreams.
Sawyer groaned as he started up the truck. “You have a full day of therapy scheduled. All the horses have to be prepped.”
“I’ll be back in time to help with the horses,” Faith assured him.
“And you’re still going to go to Lily’s award ceremony, aren’t you?”
“I promised her. She got into National Honor Society. That’s a big deal.”
“Can you skip Bible study then?”
Faith looked down her nose at her brother. “You don’t skip Jesus, Sawyer.”
“You’re burning the candle at both ends, Faith.” He sounded sincerely worried about her.
Dean wondered how often she stretched herself so thin.
“I’ll be fine. As long as I have you to help me out.”
She relied on him, but Faith needed Sawyer more than he needed her. If he was going to get Sawyer to follow him to Nashville, Dean needed to find a way to break their co-dependent relationship.
The potent scent of the flowers started to make him nauseous as they drove to the church on the outskirts of town. There had been so many flowers at Addison’s funeral they had overwhelmed the small space. Dean remembered wanting to rip all the arrangements apart and crush every petal. A funeral wasn’t a joyous occasion no matter how it was dressed up. There was nothing to celebrate, and no sweet-smelling rose could make up for the hole in Dean’s heart.
