The Butterfly Dream by Danielle Blair

Author:Danielle Blair [Blair, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

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A box of cupcakes, however messy in the end, deserved an equally creative attempt. With Freesia still in New York with the twins, and Alex still heavily into early mothering, Charlotte called in reinforcements. Assembled around a booth in Taffy’s Diner before the sun was up, each member of the Silver Swarm had received her assignment: Nash’s steering wheel; a tassel around Milkshake’s neck, letters inside the changeable road sign at the feed store, and, lastly, a plate of his favorite pancakes at Taffy’s, with a blueberry and whipped cream message—8 p.m. Charlotte had deployed them all, clues in hand, Bernice—in her red Cupid’s Wingwoman shirt—making the loudest rally cry, not of love but her aching joints.

Nash had proven to be terrible at the dating thing. Movies, pool halls, ice cream, all unimaginative, none of it reminiscent of the way they had been all those years ago. Once upon a time, Nash had been the crazy kid who had the old-timers scratching their heads and the old women nudging their husbands with sharp elbows. He used to borrow riding lawn mowers from whoever listened to his lovestruck pleas, then carve out messages in the back acreage for Charlotte to see from her second-floor bedroom. On occasion, he’d also been known to streak or deliberately miss his school bus stop. The traveling carnival offered the perfect stroll down memory lane. If they couldn’t reconnect after a night remembering who they had been, she feared they never would again.

Charlotte pulled her gaze from the midway and checked the time on her phone. Ten minutes after eight. No sign of Nash.

The toppling tower ride would have been easier on her heart. Double shoot.

On this last night of the fair, nearly everyone in town had shown up. Lines were five and six families deep. A bell at the top of the strong-man anvil challenge clanged with regularity. The soundtrack of thrill-seeking riders struck a chord of nostalgia inside Charlotte, sadder than she expected. She fought back the notion that it all seemed to be ending.

She waved hello to some couples she didn’t know, not really. Couples who had come through the bridal shop and were just starting on a journey they believed would last. She’d been one of them, once. Maybe Alex had been right. Maybe the second-floor tribute to marriage set couples up with unrealistic expectations. Despite the decades of wisdom, lovingly preserved, maybe the secret to a lasting marriage didn’t exist and everyone was just trying to get through, hurting each other as little as possible.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you Charlotte?” A boy no more than sixteen approached her, holding the hand of a similar-aged girl.

“Yes.”

“I have a message from your husband,” said the boy. “He said to tell you not to give up on him.”

Tower ride, toppled. “I’m sorry?”

“That you’d be waiting and you might leave.”

“He stopped to help us change a flat tire and got grease on his clothes,” added the girl. “Then he said tonight was special, and he was going home to change.

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