In the wake of her father's death, Spencer Edwards' mother packs up their lives from Oxford, England, and moves them to the middle-of-nowhere Texas. With an agitation for agriculture, and a distaste for anything farming, the small town of Cherry Spr...
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The unfed mind devours itself. - Gord Vidal
Chapter Song - I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) by Taylor Swift
Sloane is jittery with nerves. And Sloane is not a person who can get controlled by nerves; she's cool, calm, and overwhelmingly bubbly.
But as she remains seated in front of me, the cafe sounds whirring around me, I only focus on Sloane. She invited for me brunch today, and while we've made our usual light-hearted conversation, there is something she's begging to ask me.
I can tell it's on the tip of her tongue.
"Sloane?" I question.
"Mm." She hums, cutting off a piece of egg and eating it.
"You seem nervous, is there something you want to ask me?"
She sighs, taking a long gulp of her mimosa. "Yes, there is something I want to ask," she says. "But it isn't why I'm nervous, you're what will make me less nervous about this situation."
I tilt my head, confused. "What situation?"
Sloane hesitates, before answering. "I'm having Griffin and his son over for dinner tonight, and I haven't told Ford about it. He knows I'm seeing someone, but you know Ford, he isn't really interested in change." She rambles.
"He doesn't like it," I say, and she nods. "Then why do you want me around?"
"Because you two are friends, and he'll feel less put on the spotlight if you're there. Someone else besides me as a friendly face, because Ford will mostly likely try to get out of this dinner." Sloane explains.
I nod, understanding. "Is that why you haven't told him it's tonight? Because you know he'll try and get out of it?"
"Mhm, you know how he is." She says.
"More than so." I mumble under my breath, taking a sip of my own mimosa.
***
The kitchen holds Sloane and I's silence as we prep dinner. She chops a carrot with fine skill and a knuckle tight grip, an obvious showing of her nerves for tonight.
It's still early on, so Ford isn't back from working at the farm, and Griffin and his son Lachlan aren't close to arriving here yet. Sloane still hasn't told Ford, only that he needs to be home earlier than usual to get ready for something.
Ford has never been a welcomer for change; he harshly opposes it.
He's never opened up about where his anger for change derives from. Whether he's one for worry of the new, or is so eased and worn into this life, a new one might mean a nick of heartache for him.
