Page 96 of Small Town Boy

I nod at the group again, then turn back to Bronwyn. “Emily is part of Rose Adler’s girl gang. You know Rose, since she does the sales and marketing for Southern Brothers. It’s Rose, Emily, Dolly, and Alice from Oh, My Lard! They hang with Hux, but also Kenzie’s cousin Landon. Emily also happens to be Hattie Burch’s great-niece, and they’ve been on a mission to marry her off for a bit. She found me this morning and warned me that they might be up to something.”

“Oh.”

I can see Bronwyn’s resolve crack, but only slightly. The anger is gone from her eyes at least. But as it melts away, something else is revealed. A big something else, which leaves my own heart still aching. Because this goes a lot deeper than her not understanding my survival tactics for talking to the town gossip.

Someone hurt her. Big-time.

And I need to know who it is.

I step in to her, giving her a moment to back away. When she doesn’t, I gather her in my arms and hold her as tight as I can. It’s still not enough. Bronwyn hugs me back, her whole body collapsing in to mine, shaking as a sob racks her.

“I got you,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head and running my hand up and down her back.

I continue to hold her for a long moment, letting the crowd grow around us. We get a few looks from people—everything from inquisitive to judgmental—but I don’t care. They can move right along.

“They Hayeses really outdid themselves this year,” a woman says as she walks by. “This event needed a revamp.”

Bronwyn bristles in my arms, pulling away violently. “I love you. I hope you know that. Never in a million years did I see you coming, Noel Keller, and you’ve changed me. But I can’t stay here.”

What? Now I’m really confused.

“What are you talking about? Bronwyn, what happened? This isn’t just about the conversation with Mrs. C.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I admit, I misinterpreted that. I’m sorry, I should have asked you what that was all about. That’s on me. But…I don’t fit here, Noel. And I never will. And…Hickory Hills is too small to stay if you don’t fit.”

She heaves out a sigh, and it’s like she’s using it to push me away. As if she can control the wind and use it to put space between us. Giving herself more room to rebuild her walls.

“The worst part of what happened with Marie was not the taking credit for my ideas,” she continues. “Yes, that part stung and it sucks, and could have potentially ended my career. But what was worse than all that was that she was my friend. Someone I trusted.”

I nod, even though I have no idea where she’s going with this. What this has to do with her feeling like she doesn’t fit in. How did we go from…

Then it hits me.

That woman who just walked by. Her comment didn’t fully register because I was focused on Bronwyn. But she said the Hayeses did a great job. Not Bronwyn. The Hayeses. As in Willa.

“In the back of my mind, I’ve known that someone else taking credit for my ideas might happen again at some point. Hopefully not quite to the level Marie did, but it happens, right? Never in my wildest imagination did I think it would be so soon though. And again, by someone I trusted. I knew I shouldn’t have let my guard down, but I did. I was stupid to think that⁠—”

“Honey, ignore that woman. She clearly doesn’t know anything about who put on the event, just that it’s Hayes sponsored.”

“It’s not just her, Noel,” Bronwyn sobs, flailing her arms, pain radiating off her. Pain I want to make disappear. “I’ve lost track of all the whispers and comments this morning. The whole town thinks it. And before you tell me that we can just correct them, no. I’ve tried that. They don’t believe me. I’m an outsider and that’s all I’ll ever be to them.”

“Not true. And I’m sure once Willa tells them this was you, not her—and she will, you know that—they’ll believe it.”

Bronwyn scoffs. “Have to be able to find her first. Conveniently, she’s missing. Nowhere to be found. Makes it much easier to steal the credit when you aren’t there to have to lie about it.”

No, no, this isn’t right. I have no idea where Willa is, but we’ll find her. We’ll get this set straight. This was a hell of a time for her to pull her disappearing act—something she’s gotten really good at recently—but I’m sure it’s not because she’s trying to steal credit. She’s up to something, but that’s not it.

“Bronwyn—”

“Good Morning, Hickory Hills!” Mayor Barbour says into the microphone, his voice covering the crowd thanks to the speakers I set up this morning. “Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! I won’t keep you with some long speech, because one, it’s freezin’ out here this morning, but two, I know y’all wanna hear from Dustin way more than you do me!”

The town erupts with a huge cheer, and I should be ecstatic at such a reaction for my best friend. He’s living his dream. My dream, however, is rapidly slipping through my fingers as we speak, and I’m grasping at straws trying to figure out a way to make it stop.

“Just one quick thing before I bring Dustin out though. Can we get a great big thank you and round of applause to Willa Hayes for all this? She said that we needed to revamp this event, and boy, did she take it to eleven!”

And that might just be the nail in the coffin.

Bronwyn’s whole body slumps in resignation. I can see the tears forming in her eyes again, and my stomach knots. Fuck.