Springtime in Magnolia Bloom : A Magnolia Bloom Novel Book 3 by Paula Adler

Author:Paula Adler [Adler, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951282059
Publisher: Dragon Dreams Press LLC
Published: 2021-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Cammie

I look around the bar as the crowd descends into a mixture of excited chittering and deathly silence. At the family table, everyone is quiet, the laughter and hugs and excitement of seeing Ally practically glowing under the simple spotlight interrupted by Zane’s record-scratch arrival.

I want to yank that Stetson off Zane and stomp it into an unrecognizable pulp. For a precious few minutes, she played like the old Ally, our Ally. The Ally who became one with her music, the kind of transcendence I haven’t seen in years, the artist lost in the spell of her music.

And then Zippity Zane had to show up.

I crumple my bar napkin, and Trey rejoins me. “Everything okay?”

“I think so. Ally had a few choice words for Zane, but he left without causing a bigger scene.” He takes a spare napkin of his own, precision-folds it into a little star, places it on my head as though it’s the Spencer tiara, and leans back.

My insides go a bit mushy. I know this man so well. All calm and cool on the outside, but he wants to launch Zane into outer space just like I do.

“I’m worried about her, but I’m so glad our dad showed up. She was always super close to him.”

“You’re not?”

“I’m sure a psychologist would have a field day deconstructing it, but here’s another long story short: After the divorce, Ally stayed with Dad, Cammie and I stayed with Mom, and we had a few years where the three of us didn’t spend much time together.”

Trey gives a low “humph” before draining his bottle in a long gulp that has my attention raptly transfixed on his throat.

“Sometimes my family is its own episode of Dr. Phil, yet it’s all proof that people are the same everywhere, even when you think your drama’s unique. You know I was an only kid with a single mom, but you probably have no idea my football coach kept me from completely ruining my life. Believe me, I get family trouble.”

It’s impossible to grow up on the estate, with Mina and Fina Greene being a huge part of my youth, to not know that Trey’s bio dad had been the grossest epitome of a broken and evil man. And sweet Trey, this man returning peace to my soul, is the only human alive to know exactly how his dad died. We don’t have the details, but the hunting accident traumatized a boy barely into his double digits. That Trey turned into such a good guy after such a horrific event is yet another testament to the amount of love flowing around our quirky, though not without flaws, family and town.

“Isn’t it strange how singular events have so much power? In my case, a bout of meningitis put me back a year in junior high, and that put two years between me and Bailey against Ally. We all were so busy with sports and extracurricular stuff, and somehow, it became Dad chauffeuring Ally around and Mom hauling me and Bailey.

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