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At the end of the day, for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I was going through the motions.
I was living.
It didn’t hurt that my roommate was an avid romance reader, and I’d found this whole new world that I loved escaping to. Turns out that I’m a big, sappy romantic deep down.
Saylor couldn’t wait to get her bookstore open, and me, Demi, and Peyton were her biggest cheerleaders.
That was another thing that I’d found being back in Magnolia Falls.
Girlfriends.
Something I’d never had before, and now, I couldn’t imagine my life without them. Women lifting other women up—it was powerful.
My father was making so much progress, eating healthy and taking much better care of himself. I loved that I got to see him almost every day now that I was living back in Magnolia Falls and he came and had dinner with River and me every Sunday now.
It didn’t hurt that my brothers were thriving. They were both holding down jobs and finally living on their own, and they’d yet to miss a rent payment. I saw them often and they didn’t only come to me when they needed me. Although, they came to me for advice every now and then, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I liked it.
My mom and I were a work in progress, and I was okay with that. We’d had lunch twice now, and though we still had a ways to go, it was better than it had been in a very long time.
I never thought I’d say this, but life was good.
Really good.
We walked house to house, as Cutler ran up and rang the bell and then did the most adorable happy dance each time he got more candy.
We all had our Magnolia Beans cups filled with warm pumpkin goodness as we walked street after street because thiskid was not going to miss one house if he had anything to say about it.
“Thank God this is the last house,” River whispered in my ear.
“Stop being ridiculous. He’s loving it.”
“You know what I love? This costume you’re wearing.” He nipped at my ear, and I chuckled.
“I’m wearing black jeans, a black sweater, and a crown. It’s not much of a costume,” I said.
“What can I say? My evil queen turns me on,” he said.
“And what are you supposed to be?” I raised a brow because he was wearing jeans and a sweater.
“I’m a lawyer.”
I smiled. “It’s not a very lawyerly outfit.”
“Damn straight. If I ever start looking lawyerly, you better smack me upside the head.”
“You can count on it.” We walked up the walkway to Nash’s house, and Cutler sprinted into the kitchen to start going through his candy.
“I ordered pizzas. It’ll be here in thirty minutes,” Nash said, as we settled on the big L-shaped couch in his family room.
“Thanks, I’m starving,” Kingston said, as he dropped to sit beside me.
“It’s a big week.” Demi sat between Romeo and Saylor. “Construction starts on the bookstore on Monday.”
“I’m so excited about it. And with me working at the coffee shop, and the bookstore being right next door, I can be watching the progress in real time,” Saylor said.
“You sure you can make a living doing this?” Hayes took a pull from his beer and settled his gaze on his little sister.
He’d worried when she’d moved into her own place and was grateful that I was rooming with her so she wouldn’t be alone. But the guy worried about her a lot. I got it because I had alwaysbeen that way with my brothers. But I knew this was different. He’d always been like a father to Saylor. They hadn’t had an easy upbringing, and I knew some stuff had gone down with their mother’s husband, but she didn’t talk about it. She wanted to be independent, and it frustrated her that Hayes was so protective.
