by Tabatha Kiss
“Oh, they’ll get used to you once they see how much you’ve grown up.”
“I’d like to get more involved in town committees,” Jovie continues, “but I seem to be getting a lot of doors shut in my face.”
“Well, that’s not very Cloverly. Oh—!” Mom claps once. “I have a great idea! Sara, you should invite Jovie to join the party planning committee.”
Jovie beams in triumph. “That is a wonderful suggestion, Rachel.” Her face slowly turns toward my sister’s growing scowl. “I would love to join the party planning committee.”
Sara rises from her chair. “Will, can I talk to you in the other room?”
I wince on the inside. “Well, we’re kind of—”
“Kitchen. Now.”
She marches into the hallway and we all pause, listening to the sound of her heels as they clack into the kitchen.
Mom snorts and reaches for her wineglass. “She’s slowly becoming me, isn’t she?”
I glare at Jovie’s opportunistic smile but that just makes her lips curl even more as Mom cackles beside her.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, following Sara.
Dread increases on me as I make my way across the house. Since day one, Sara’s been as anti-Jovie as anyone else in this town but her hatred doesn’t come from Jovie’s family or her teenage rebellion phase. She’s hated Jovie since before any of that mattered just because of who she is or, more accurately, who she claims Jovie is.
I step one foot into the kitchen and Sara starts in on me.
“You’re engaged now?” she asks. “Engaged?”
“Yes,” I say.
She stumbles on her tongue. “I— wha— she’s been back like a week.”
“So?”
“So, did you ask her or did she ask you?”
I shrug. “Does it make a difference?”
“Yes. She’s playing you, Will.”
“How?” I hold up my hands. “Wait, no. Don’t answer that. I don’t care.”
“You can’t possibly think that getting married to her is a good idea after everything she’s put you through.”
“I do, actually,” I argue. “This is what I’ve wanted since I was fourteen. I can absolutely say it’s a good idea.”
She shows a pained expression. “You’ve fallen in love with her again, haven’t you?”
“No, Sara. I never stopped in the first place.”
“Okay, Will,” she steps closer to the counter, “there’s something you need to know about Jovie.”
“I don’t care. Nothing you have to say will change my mind about her.”
“Believe me,” she says. “This will.”
“Then, I don’t want to know.”
She stands taller. “Will, a few days before you two broke up—”
“Sara, I am happy.” My voice rises and she takes a step back. “Isn’t that what you claimed you and everyone else in this stupid town always wanted? For me to be happy?” I extend my arms, presenting myself. “Well, here it is. So, please, whatever it is, just leave it alone. Let it go.”
“I can’t just let it go. I’m your sister.”
“Honestly, if you’re so hell-bent on ruining this for me then you’re not much of a sister to begin with.”
Her jaw drops slowly. “Will, I… can I at least say, for the record, that I think you’re making a huge mistake?”
“Noted.” I take a breath. “Now, would you please, for me, just let her on that damn committee?”
Sara sighs. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
Mom shuffles into the kitchen behind me. “Oh, don’t mind me,” she says. “I’m just checking on my roast. Sara, did you set the table?”
“Yes,” Sara says through her teeth. “I set the table.”
“Good, good. Will, get everyone moving into the dining room, please.”
I spin around and take advantage of the moment to retreat from the conversation. Blood rushes to my face so I take a lean against the wall until the feeling returns to my legs and my head stops throbbing.
I follow the silence back into the living room where Dad and Jovie keep Andy company.
“Dinner’s ready,” I say.
Dad stands up to walk into the dining room but he pauses for a quick moment to pat me on the shoulder as he passes by.
I look at Jovie as she wanders over to take my hand. Our fingers entwine in a subtle, loving squeeze as we both visibly exhale the air from our lungs.
There’s something you need to know about Jovie.
She gazes at me with a warm, elegant smile, one equally as heart-warming as it is bone-chilling.
Ignorance is bliss, right?
Chapter 27
Jovie
The teacher’s lounge is a busy fray of voices by the time I make it for the party planning meeting. Sara and the others have already arrived, each one of them sitting around the table with tall mugs of fresh coffee and multi-colored ribbons scattered among them, mostly various shades of red and blue.
My first instinct is to apologize for being tardy but that’s comparable to jumping into shark-infested waters covered in fresh blood. Any obvious weakness will be my downfall here and I’ve already worked too hard to get on this committee in the first place.
I walk right in with my head high but my guts lurch the moment Sara’s eyes flick over at me and she casts that look of judgment at me and my red smock.
“You’re late,” she spits out as she trims a piece of sapphire ribbon with scissors.
I take the one empty seat on Natalie’s left. “The toy store didn’t close until seven.”
“If you’re going to be involved, Jovie, then you have to be on time. Otherwise, you can go.”
Natalie scoffs. “Oh, please, Sara. We literally just sat down. Un-bunch thyself.” She twists in her seat to stare at me. “Let me see it.”
I lean back. “See what?”
She launches forward and reaches across my lap to snatch my left wrist. Her jaw drops as she whips my hand closer to her face to get a good look at my ring.
“Oh, my gosh!” she says. “It’s so pretty!”
I smile. “Thank y—”
She practically yanks me from my chair to thrust it into Claudia’s face. “Look at it!”
Claudia makes the same fawning expression. “Oh, wow. Will has such good taste!”
Two others pop out of their chairs to rush over and see. I peek through the group to check out Sara’s impatient, almost furious, face. Honestly, it’s more than a little satisfying watching the steam billow from her pink nostrils as her friends unanimously praise me for anchoring down her little brother.
“Let’s concentrate, people,” Sara says, her voice rising. “We need to come up with decorations to match our theme.”
“Theme?” I ask as the others disperse back to their chairs. “It’s the Valentine’s dance. Isn’t the theme always Valentine’s Day?”
Natalie giggles over Sara’s annoyed glare. “Not anymore. Ever since Sara took over, we’ve started doing themes to increase attendance and it really got people excited again. Last year, it was the Renaissance, and the year before that, it was Romeo and Juliet.”
I chuckle. “Aren’t those pretty much the same thing?”
Sara’s stare hardens but she doesn’t answer.
“Okay…” I move on, “what’s the theme this year?”
“A USO show,” Natalie says, still grinning.
I raise a brow. “Like entertaining the troops and stuff?”
“World War II style, baby!” She tugs on my arm. “It’s going to be so much fun! Swing dancing and jazz music and cigarette girls — candy ones, of course. I can’t wait!”
“Yeah.” I nod. Actually, it could be much worse. “Sounds cool.”
Sara lays her scissors down a little too hard. “Good. Then, you won’t mind making signs to display around town to announce the theme.”
It’s a ploy to get rid of me. Not from the committee, of course. Just out o
f her face.
“Sure,” I answer, sitting a little taller. “I don’t mind at all.”
“Ohh, let me help!” Natalie says. “I live for signage.”
“I don’t care,” Sara says. “Just have at least five done tonight and posted around the square tomorrow morning.”
Natalie latches onto my arm. “Come on, Jovie.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Shopping for supplies.”
I let her pull me out of my chair and she guides us out into the hallway.
“Okay, Jovie. Spill,” she says. “What do you have planned so far?”
“Planned?”
“You know. For the wedding. Where’s your venue? The two of you have lived here your whole lives — save your little vacation, of course — so you’re probably going to have it here, right? There are three churches in Clover but only one of them has a sanctuary big enough to give a damn about. Or you can be like me and my Dickie and get hitched in the town square. Plenty of space there for whatever kind of ceremony you want.”
“Oh, I don’t think we’ll have a ceremony or anything,” I say. “We’ll probably just elope at the courthouse.”
Natalie halts in the hallway mid-stride. “What?” she gasps. “Why—why—why would you elope? Why would you do that? What’s wrong with you?”
I glance around the sea of lockers and trophy cases. “What’s wrong with eloping?”
“Everything.” Her eyes grow wider. “You need a real wedding, Jovie. You need a big, white dress and flowers and a cake the size of your torso.”
“Why?” I ask.
Her mouth opens but only light stuttering comes out as she stares at me. “That’s… just… what you’re supposed to do.”
“Sounds expensive,” I say, nudging us forward again. “And, traditionally speaking, it’d be on me and my family to pay for that and I don’t know if you’ve ever met Hank Ross, but he’s not exactly a big saver and I stock dolls for minimum wage.”
She stops in front of the art room door. “Well, I’m sure the town would chip in to make your day special.”
I snort. “Really?”
“Well, I would.”
Natalie shoves it open and walks straight toward the paint cabinet in the corner. I flick on the light and pause as a few stray memories invade from my teenage days. I only took one art class the entire four years here. Don’t remember a damn thing I learned, though.
“Thanks, Natalie,” I say, watching as she sifts through large bottles of paint. “But I don’t think so.”
“What does Will think?” She points at my feet. “Grab that crate, will you?” I bend over and pick up an old milk crate from underneath the teacher’s desk. “Doesn’t he want a real wedding? Doesn’t he want to watch you walk down the aisle toward him?”
I stand beside her as she fills the crate with various paints and brushes. “I doubt he cares, honestly.”
Natalie tilts her head. “Are you sure?”
“I mean, we haven’t exactly talked about it or anything.”
“Why not? By this time in my engagement, I already had the venue booked, the officiant on lock, and multiple caterers engaged in bidding wars.”
“We’re just still in a celebratory phase, that’s all,” I tell her. “Once that wears off, I’m sure we’ll be in full wedding planning mode.”
“Well, as soon as you’re there, let me know,” she says. “I still have my wedding scrapbook and it’s full of ideas we never used.”
“Thanks.”
She leans in. “Can I see it again?”
I roll my eyes and set the heavy crate down on a desk before holding out my left hand. She grabs it and pulls it closer to get one more good look at my ring.
“Ohh,” she coos. “It really suits you guys.”
“It does?”
“Yeah, I mean — and don’t take this the wrong way at all — but it’s simple. It’s elegant. It’s not flashy but it’s still a little rock and roll. Totally Will and Jovie.”
I tilt my hand back to take a look for myself. I never gave much thought to diamond jewelry before. It all pretty much looked the same to me. Now that I have to wear it around and show it off, it’s becoming a part of our whole relationship. Real or otherwise.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I say to myself.
“Nothing like mine,” she says, flashing at her own giant, glimmering rock. “I’m pretty sure I’d drown if I ever jumped into the deep end of a pool but it’s so me and Dickie.”
“Gaudy and unapologetic?” I quip.
She grins. “Damn right.” Her eyes fall to the crate again. “Okay, we got red, we got white, and we got blue. Let’s go. Grab it and follow me.”
I pick it up as she swipes a few sheets of white poster board from the cabinet by the door.
“So, this is shopping for supplies?” I ask, raising a brow.
Natalie brings a perfectly painted fingernail to her lips and fires me a subtle wink. “Shh,” she says.
Chapter 28
Will
“So, I told Sara that you can’t have a USO themed dance without live music and everyone else agreed.” Jovie points her own thumbs at her face. “With me.”
I take a sip from my soda. “Really?”
Jovie chews on a fry from her plate across the table from me. “You should have seen the look on her face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her more annoyed with me before and that’s saying something.”
“Well, this won’t backfire on me at all,” I joke, glancing around the crowded diner.
If we’d been this public a week ago, every silent eye would be staring at us. Now, I notice only the occasional passing glance toward our booth. Maybe Clover is finally starting to get used to us again.
“Anyway,” Jovie wipes her mouth with her napkin, “Natalie and I went online and found a few swing bands in Kansas City and we’re setting up some auditions for this weekend. It’s gonna be awesome.”
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t you? The dance is on Tuesday.”
She winces. “Yeah, but it’ll be okay. Musicians are usually really flexible people. I am confident that we’ll find one in time.”
I stare quietly at her until she realizes I am.
“What?” she finally asks.
“Do you realize that you’ve been talking about the party planning committee for the last twenty minutes and you haven’t rolled your eyes once?”
She scoffs. “I have, too.”
“No, you haven’t.” I smirk. “You’ve spent the last week and a half on this committee, smiling and nodding along with them only to come home every night to me and poke fun.”
“So?”
“So… the last few days haven’t been as mean-spirited as usual.”
She frowns. “What are you getting at, Will?”
I slide forward to snatch a fry off her plate. “You’re having fun,” I say as I bite it in half.
Jovie sits a little taller as her face creases. “I am not.”
“Yes, you are. You’re giving back to the town of Clover and you’re actually enjoying yourself.”
“No, I’m blending in. That’s the whole point of a coup.”
“I don’t think you’re couping anymore, Jove,” I say, stealing another fry off her plate. “I think you’re one step closer to becoming—”
“Don’t.” She points a stiff finger at me. “Don’t you dare say it.”
“A productive member of society.”
Her jaw drops. “Take. That. Back.”
“Soon, you’ll be giving presentations at town meetings.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“And voting in local elections.”
“Knock it off.”
I reach for another fry but she slaps my hand away. “Ow,” I wince.
“Take it back.”
“Jovie.” I laugh as I wipe the crumbs off my fingers. “Come on. It’s not a big deal. So, you’re making new friends and you’re burying old hatchets. It’s good f
or you. It’s healthy. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted to happen anyway?”
“No, I wanted to make them eat crow!” she says. “I wanted them to stop treating me like a damn leper. Like I don’t belong here. I was born in the same hospital two blocks away as they were. I went to the same schools, drank the same Kool-Aid, and I have every right to be here. I’m from Clover, Kansas and I’m—”
She shuts her mouth to stop herself from saying it.
I lean forward. “Proud?”
Her eyes disappear behind a deep squint. “Okay, I see your point. Can we go back to your place and fuck this bad taste out of my mouth, please?”
I smile. “Whatever you want, my darling.”
“Thank you.”
She slides out of the booth and beelines toward the nearest exit across the diner. I stand up to follow her, but not before snatching a few more abandoned fries off her plate.
***
I run a finger along Jovie’s naked hip, riding the curve up and down on the bed beside me.
She flinches and smiles, her eyes tired and closed. “That tickles,” she says.
I don’t stop. I keep my hands on her, feeling her smooth skin until she finally opens her eyes.
“I said, that tickles.”
“That’s not our safe word.”
She shifts up onto her elbow in amusement. “Stop tickling me before I break your fingers,” she says.
“There it is.” I withdraw my hand but lean in close to kiss her shoulder instead.
“What?” she asks me.
“Nothing.”
“No…” She leans back. “There’s something on your mind. What is it?”
I shake my head. “Just you.”
“Just me?”
“Yeah.”
“What about me?”
I eye the ring on her finger. She hasn’t taken it off since I gave it to her. At least, I haven’t noticed if she has, but we spend every free moment we have together. Making up for lost time, I suppose.
“I like having you here,” I say.
She smiles. “I like being here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I slide my arm around her to pull her a little closer. “Then, move in.”