AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Liberty had found another pea and another pod, leaving Belle with only two choices. She could try to squeeze into one of her sisters’ or her parents’ pods. Or she could put on her big-girl panties and get used to being a single pea.
Moving in with one of her sisters would be safe, but maybe it was time to stop playing it safe. Maybe it was time to start making her own decisions—even if they turned out to be the wrong ones.
Tonight, she had tasted a lot of drinks before she’d gotten to the lemon drop martini. Once she’d taken the first sip, she’d known it was the drink for her. Maybe that’s what she needed to do in life. She just needed to keep trying things until she discovered what she liked and what she wanted.
She didn’t know why an image of Corbin popped into her head at that exact moment. But there he was, his wavy hair all tousled from her fingers and his blue eyes filled with surprise that she had touched him. There was something about his surprise that had made her feel powerful. Probably because she rarely surprised people. She was the compliant twin who went along with everyone.
It was time for that to change.
She fired off a text message to Cloe telling her that she wouldn’t be home. She lied and said she was staying at Sweetie’s. If she’d told the truth, Cloe would be over in a New York second to find out what was going on. It would be better if Belle explained everything in the morning.
There were two bedrooms in the trailer. One had a bed and one had a mattress on the floor. Since the one with the bed had a floral bedspread, she assumed it was Sunny’s and chose it. Corbin had already screwed with her head enough tonight. She didn’t need to sleep on a pillow that smelled like him.
She slept much better than she thought she would in a strange place. She woke up the next morning with a slight hangover and the sun shining brightly in the window. She reached for her cellphone on the nightstand to see what time it was, but since she hadn’t charged it, it was dead. She went to set it back on the nightstand and noticed the sketchpad.
Everyone at school had known Sunny loved to draw. She’d taken a sketchpad with her everywhere. Belle couldn’t help picking it up and taking a peek inside. As soon as she opened the sketchpad, she realized Sunny wasn’t just a doodler. She was an artist.
Her drawings brought her subjects to life. There were drawings of the townsfolk—Mrs. Stokes in her ratty mink, Sheryl Ann baking in her kitchen, Mr. Crawley standing behind the counter of the general store. There were drawings of animals—a sad-looking mutt dog sitting by a dumpster, a long-horned cow munching grass, a litter of kittens snuggled in a cardboard box labeled FREE.
There was a drawing of a teenage Corbin sitting on his old bike in front of the trailer. He wore a stretched out T-shirt and frayed cut-off jean shorts. His tube socks drooped around his tattered running shoes and the bill of his ball cap sat crooked on his mop of hair. He was laughing. Belle couldn’t remember ever seeing him laugh like that with his mouth open and his eyes crinkled at the corners. Just looking at it made her smile.
The smile faded when she came to the next few drawings.
They were all of the Holiday Ranch. Every detail was right, from the swing in the old oak to the peonies in Mimi’s garden. In one, Sunny had even put their old barn cat, Mouser, peeking out of the barn. In another, a much younger Mimi was working in her garden. In another, teenage Belle and her sisters were all squeezed together on the porch swing, laughing.
Belle now knew why Corbin had wanted to give the ranch to his sister. Sunny’s infatuation with it was there in every pencil stroke.
A banging on the front door had Belle jumping. She quickly closed the sketchpad and put it back on the nightstand before she hurried to the door. When she pulled it open, she found Sweetie, Cloe, and Liberty standing there.
They did not look happy.
“What the hell, Belle!” Liberty hollered.
“There’s no need to yell at her, Libby,” Cloe said. “She looks like she’s had a rough night.”
Liberty glared at her. “And I’m about to give her a rough morning.”
Sweetie’s expression was less hostile and more concerned. “What were you thinking, Belly? We’ve been worried sick since Cloe called me this morning. Why would you say you were staying with me when you weren’t? And why didn’t you answer your phone? Thankfully, when we called the ranch to see if you were there Corbin knew where you were.”
“I’m sorry,” Belle said. “I just knew you’d want to come check on me and I needed some time to think.”
“To think!” Liberty yelled.
Sweetie held up a hand. “Simmer down, Libby. How about we all go to Nothin’ But Muffins and talk calmly? I’m starving.”
Nothin’ But Muffins was the spot to be in the mornings. The small coffee shop was filled to the rafters when they stepped in the door. Everyone greeted them with big smiles and a hearty “Good mornin’!” as they stood in line to place their orders with the owner, Sheryl Ann.
Belle couldn’t decide what muffin she wanted to go with her herbal tea so she ordered a half dozen different ones. Since there were no tables inside, she and her sisters moved outside to the picnic tables. When she opened her box of muffins and started taking bites of each one, her sisters stared at her with surprise.
“What’s wrong?” she asked around a mouthful of a Sour Lemon Poppy muffin.
“We thought you’d ordered for all of us,” Sweetie said.
She swallowed the bite of muffin. “Oh. Sorry.” She handed the lemon poppyseed muffin to Sweetie. “But I’m happy to share the ones I don’t like.”
Liberty stared at her. “You’ve lost it, Belly. Really lost it. I get you’re upset that I’m marrying Jesse, but you need to get over it.”
“I’m over it.” She tasted Pea-Nutty Buddy and her eyes widened. “This is it! This is the best muffin ever.”
