Sassy Blonde by Stacey Kennedy

Author:Stacey Kennedy [Kennedy, Stacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stacey Kennedy

9

The farmhouse had always been Maisie’s favorite place, the one spot where nothing could ever touch her, where everything felt safe. Until tonight. Clara and Amelia sat around the kitchen table in their pajamas, hair up in matching messy buns. For as long as Maisie could remember, she’d always been the outsider, the one different from her sisters. When they shopped together, Maisie painted. When they watched chick flicks, Maisie snuggled up with a good book. After Laurel, she felt that gap between her and her sisters close. But now, she felt a world away from them again. The silent heaviness in the room made each breath that passed through Maisie’s lips feel more and more strangled. The only light came from the hanging fixture above the kitchen table. Upstairs, Mason had been asleep for hours, the steady clicking of the grandfather clock in the hallway a constant tick grating on Maisie’s last nerve.

After Beckett had picked them up at the police station, the drive home had been equally as silent. The only words exchanged had been when Hayes walked her to her front door, took her in his arms and hugged her tight. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

When Maisie walked through her front door, she met Clara’s frown and Amelia’s sad eyes.

Both remained looking that way as they sat across from her at the table. When the silence became daunting, Maisie played with the dried, crispy leaves of wilting flowers in the vase. The dead leaves crumbled between her fingers. Her heart felt just like that. “I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Amelia said softly, taking Maisie’s hand across the table.

“Then why does it feel like it is?” Maisie stared at the crystal vase, unable to face the disappointment in Clara’s eyes. She reached for another leaf. It fell apart in her fingers. “Hayes and I were doing so well. And, because, on a whim, I wanted some fun, I cost us this last festival.” She slid her fingers over another leaf.

“Please stop killing the flower,” Clara said. “It did nothing to you.” The softness in Clara’s voice made Maisie lift her gaze. Clara smiled gently at her, making Maisie fight back tears. “You tried your best. We both know that.”

Amelia agreed with a nod. “We do.”

Maisie didn’t feel better. If anything, she felt worse. They’d worked so hard. Done everything right. Maisie, no matter what she did, always messed things up.

Whatever showed on Maisie’s expression made Clara shake her head slowly. “I honestly don’t understand how so many bad things can happen to one person. It’s like you’ve been hexed or something.”

It had truly begun to feel that way. “You know, maybe that is what’s going on here. Maybe someone hates me and has hexed me into failing. All the time.”

Amelia said, “Who would hate you, Maisie-Moo?”

“If you find out, let me know,” Maisie said.

Amelia snorted a laugh.

Maisie pulled her hands away and pressed the bottom of her palms into her eyes. “Seriously, though, what are we going to do now? We needed that festival, right?”

“We did, yes,” Clara answered.

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