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Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Chapter Forty-One
  46. Chapter Forty-Two
  47. Chapter Forty-Three
  48. Chapter Forty-Four
  49. Chapter Forty-Five
  50. Chapter Forty-Six
  51. Chapter Forty-Seven
  52. Chapter Forty-Eight
  53. Chapter Forty-Nine
  54. Chapter Fifty
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. Discover More
  57. About the Author

I sat on the edge of her queen-size bed and buried my head in my hands. When I’d expressed anxiety over the financial investment staying in Pleasant Hollow for a week would entail, she offered to pay half. She then dragged me into her bedroom and pointed at my framed first publishing credit in Jack and Jill magazine, a publication geared toward children I’d discovered at my pediatrician’s office. Her eyes lit up when she recalled how thrilled I’d been at ten years old when my story about the kid-led booths at our neighborhood’s farmers’ market had won the reader content competition. She insisted that if the Pleasant Hollow story led to a full-time job where I’d be that happy on a daily basis, it would be worth every cent. I’d searched for the strength to turn her down and mean it, but it didn’t come.

And the whole time, she’d been hiding a major spike in our rent. My mom had been supporting me my whole life. One could argue it was her job as my mother, but when was it time to say enough was enough? If not at the age of twenty-five, then when? Derek had said I had a fire in my belly, but in terms of making a real living as a journalist, it was more of a low simmer because of the comfortable nest Mom provided. I’d taken advantage of her “mom-ness” for too long. It was time to grow up.

“Adi!”

I dropped my hands to my sides. “Coming.”

I stood with renewed determination to write the shit out of this story and snag that full-time staff position at Tea. Then I would insist on chipping in on the increased rent so we could stay in our beloved home. Or I could move out—on my own or with a roommate—so my mother could find an affordable one-bedroom apartment and live by herself for the first time in her adult life.

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

When the ShortLine bus arrived at the terminal in Newburgh—the closest stop to Pleasant Hollow—I tried to contain my excitement while waiting for my Uber. I shivered in my military jacket, unsure whether it was due to an actual drop in temperature or anxiety about my impending adventure.

According to Google, it was a twelve-minute drive to Pleasant Hollow, and I spent the entire time gawking out the window like I’d never been outside of the city. This was dopey, considering I’d been born in a town with an even smaller population. And although my maternal grandparents no longer lived in Indiana, having retired to Boca Raton, Florida, their community wasn’t exactly urban.