No Place Like Homecoming by Dallen, Maggie (best books to read for women .TXT) 📕

Okay, fine, maybe I’d chosen to not think about it. If I did, I’d get nervous.

Which, sure enough, I did.

But the thing was, I was already in the midst of a panic attack. This new spiral into the land of song was the last straw.

“Are you okay?” Callie whispered.

Why did everyone keep asking me that? No. Of course I wasn’t okay. I was dressed as Dorothy. At a kids’ party. In hell.

My perfect boyfriend had hooked up with my frenemy, my best friend had gone incommunicado except to fill me in on my almost-boyfriend’s hookups, and oh yeah...my parents didn’t want me.

My perfect life was going to hell in a handbasket.

Oh right. And now I had to sing.

All eyes were on me. The silence stretched to something tight and cloying. I spotted Flynn at the back of a crowd, near a catering station where his friend was watching the scene with crossed arms and a look of disdain. But Flynn? His brows were drawn down low in concern.

That look would be the death of me.

I opened my mouth to sing. There was nothing else to do. I had no other choice.

“Somewhere over the rainbow…”

The words came out. Until they didn’t. I saw Willow’s pale grey Tin-Man costume shift closer. I saw Callie moving toward me. Even the lion behind me who I didn’t know put a hand on my back as if he knew.

I think they all knew.

I might have been the last one to see it coming. The last thing I heard was my own voice, weak and shaky singing ‘why oh why can’t I?’

Then everything went black.

Twelve

Flynn

Oh crap. She fainted.

My feet moved into action before I even knew what I was doing, shoving parents and kids out of the way to get to her.

Maverick caught her in his arms before her head hit the cement of the back patio, and Mrs. Messner was running interference with the party guests and the owners of the house.

I heard one person mention 9-1-1, which seemed like overkill.

“I got her,” I said, squatting down next to Isla and picking her up before anyone could interfere.

Savannah moved ahead of me and made the crowds part with her wand until we were safely inside and down in the Garners’ finished basement where Mrs. Messner’s staging area had been set up.

Callie and Willow were hot on our heels and as soon as I set Isla down on the couch they had her covered with a blanket and a pillow under her head. “Should we call her aunt?” Callie said.

“I already did.” Mrs. Messner was all business as she came in beside us. “She’s on her way.”

“Should we call a doctor or—”

“No.” Isla’s voice was creaky but strong. “No. Please don’t call a doctor.”

“She needs space.” Mrs. Messner shooed us all away but I stayed. I couldn’t not stay. My heart was still recovering from the sight of Isla’s eyes rolling back and her body going limp.

My stomach had plummeted at the sight and even now I couldn’t quite catch my breath. Not until I knew she was all right.

“Don’t worry about a thing, Isla,” Callie called from the doorway. “I’ll cover you out there.”

“She’s a better singer anyway,” Savannah said. A quick glance from all of us had her adding, “No offense.”

Isla actually smiled. Sort of. It was a pathetic version of her real smile. But, now that I thought of it, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen her real smile. Or anything close to genuine behavior on her part, for that matter.

Mrs. Messner fussed a little while longer, ignoring Isla’s protests that she was fine, she’d just forgotten to eat.

This was an excuse no one could swallow. We’d all seen the way she was acting when she’d arrived. Gone was the confident, sassy city girl and in her place had been someone fragile and on edge.

I’d been watching her for the past hour and had seen with my own eyes the way she couldn’t seem to follow a conversation. How her mind was anywhere but here.

“I’d better go make sure everything is going all right upstairs,” Mrs. Messner said after she’d ascertained that Isla wasn’t about to faint again. “Flynn, will you stay with her?”

Isla struggled upright. “That’s not necess—”

“Of course.” I cut off Isla’s protests and she fell back with a sigh. In a matter of seconds, we were alone.

I sat on the edge of the couch as she covered her eyes. “On a scale of one to ten, how embarrassing was that?”

“Hmm.” I pretended to ponder. “I’d say about an eleven.”

She groaned. “That’s what I thought.” She started to struggle upright again, and when I tried to help her, she shoved me aside. “On a positive note, maybe I’ll be fired.”

I laughed. “I doubt it. Although, I don’t think Savannah or the others will let you be the lead again, no matter how much they hate the character or how bad her tips.”

“They take it that seriously, huh?”

I shrugged. “They take making money seriously. A lot of us do.”

She looked down at her hands. “I don’t need money.”

“Then why are you even here?” I asked. Some of my anger from the night before seeped into my tone. Her playing the role of Dorothy was just one of the many things I didn’t understand about her and I hated how frustrating that was.

I shouldn’t care. After the way she’d acted last night, I really didn’t want to care.

She shrugged. “My aunt’s making me earn my keep while I stay with her.”

“But you don’t want to stay with her,” I guessed.

She shook her head, and to my utter horror, I saw tears fill her eyes. I knew without a doubt that this, at least, was real. “I just want to go home.”

“Then catch a flight.” I regretted the harshness in my tone as soon as it slipped out, but I was still freakin’ humiliated by the way I’d let her make a fool of