Given how emotional Ava had been about corn dogs the other night, this seemed likely. “You haven’t told her your plan yet? You waiting until you get it in writing from Pamela?”
He shook his head. “I thought about waiting, but nah. Truth is… I’ll be moving here anyway, Brooks. Soon.” He held up a hand like he thought I was going to protest. “I know it’s fast. I know there’s a million reasons why it might not work. But I love Ava, and I really like this town too. So if things with Storms Marketing don’t work out, I’ll find a job in the Thicket. Maybe I’ll create high-concept campaigns for local dairy farmers. Or maybe I’ll learn to milk cows.” He winked.
I stared at him, stunned. “You’d give up your career, Paul? Seriously?”
“No! The milking cows was a joke, dumbass. But I’m good at what I do, so I’ll find a way to fit my career into my life, rather than the other way around. I’m gonna tell Ava tonight at the dinner dance. She’s crazy nervous for some reason. This news will distract her.”
I pushed the idea of Paul leaving New York out of my mind temporarily. “Makes sense, doesn’t it? Last time we were at this dance, it was a shitshow. It’s probably some kind of PTSD thing.”
“Well, no one’s breaking up with her this time,” Paul said firmly. “So how bad could it possibly be?”
As it turned out, the answer was very, cataclysmically bad.
Me: Mal. Sweetness. We just arrived and I’d really like to see you.
I sent off the message before Paul had even finished putting the car in Park in the gravel lot outside the town fairgrounds, but I sat there for a long minute after he’d gotten out and ditched me to find Ava, hoping against hope that the three little text dots would appear.
They did not.
Instead, while I was sitting there, my mother appeared next to the car in a floaty silver dress like a specter in the twilight… if a ghost were capable of knocking sharply on the passenger’s side window and yelling loud enough for people in the next county to hear, “Brooks, honey! Stop hiding and come on out, now! The dance is about to start, and the Head Licker needs to officially open it!”
I snorted. I had a sense of déjà vu, recalling the hundreds of times she’d caught me reading or playing on my Nintendo in someone’s laundry room when I was supposed to be hanging out with the other kids at a party. The more things changed…
The difference was, this time I actually couldn’t wait to get inside the dance, if only to find Mal and figure out where his head was.
I pushed my door open and stood. “Mama! Don’t you look beautiful! Don’t let Dad see you in that dress. Who knows what it might do to his stent situation.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
She blushed just a little, even as she rolled her eyes. “Your father’s not even here yet. I came over early with the rest of the Beautification Corps to finish setting up, and he fell asleep in front of the television, poor man. I don’t suppose you saw him on your way out?”
I shook my head. “The shower was on when I left.”
“He hates to be late. Ah, well. The week’s taken a lot out of him, even though you’ve taken the brunt of the work.” She smoothed my already-smooth lapels and straightened my perfectly straight tie. “Have I mentioned how glad I am that you came home, sweetie?”
“I’m glad too,” I told her sincerely as we started walking toward the barn, and she looped her arm around mine. “And I’m planning to be home a lot more often from now on. Christmases, birthdays.” Maybe more than that, but I didn’t want to promise something I might not deliver.
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” She smiled vaguely and patted my arm. “You know you’re welcome any day, any hour, Brooks. You and Paul. Where’d he run off to, by the by?”
I winced. Right. Me and Paul. I’d been so consumed with Mal today I’d somehow sort of forgotten that whole fake-boyfriend thing. Paul, Ava, and I were going to have to come up with a really foolproof plan to get people accustomed to the idea of Paul being Ava’s boyfriend with a minimum of fuss and bother, otherwise it would be a disaster. I thought maybe I should start laying the groundwork for that sooner than later.
“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere, Mama. The thing is, Paul and I are… um…”
She turned to me with wide eyes as we passed through the open double doors into the barn. “Engaged?” she whispered.
“No. No! Jesus, no. I’m just not sure that he’s… the one,” I hedged.
Her face fell. “Oh, Brooks, no! You’re going to devastate him if you break up with him! And now he’ll never come back to the Thicket! And Mrs. Rabinowitz started knitting him a sweater!”