Dust to Dust: A Broken Fairy Tale by S. P. Cervantes Read Free Book Online

me when talking about the girls and our life in the city, as if everything is back to normal. I want so badly for our life to be as perfect as Marcus is making it sound, as perfect as I had once thought it was. I have to admit that there’s a small part of me that hopes being here with me like this will snap Marcus out of this funk in our relationship. Being back home, back with our friends could be just the thing that could help him realize what he is pushing away. So I silently sip on a glass of wine, smiling politely at his jokes and lean into him as we sit on the steps of the deck with a small group of our closest friends.
    “So Cam, when are you and Marcus going to finally move back down here and away from the city? Charlotte needs her best friends closer,” Jess asks us as she stands snuggled between Dave and Joey. Jess and I have been friends since I can remember. She lived down the street from Holden and me growing up, and is the one constant in my life. She saw me through my depression after my innocence was stolen, when no one else seemed to notice or care. Jess has never pushed me to tell her what happened; she just knew I was broken, and helped me try to pick up the pieces. After Holden and I broke up and drifted apart, she never left my side. She has always been there for me, and I have never doubted her loyalty. Jess is lively and outspoken, confident and beautiful. Everything I wish I was, and she acts as if she has no idea of the amazing qualities she has.
    Jess just stands there in all her exotic beauty, snuggling into her husband while he plays with her long auburn hair, unaware of how perfect her life seems. Jess married her high school sweetheart, Dave, right after college and they have a five-year-old girl together. She still lives here in Mantoloking, where Dave is now the town sheriff. They have a marriage that everyone envies. Dave’s soft yet tough demeanor complements the spitfire that is Jess in every way. He keeps her in line when needed…which is more than he probably wishes, but he always has a smile and kiss for her in the end. It’s sweet to see how much in love they still are. Once again, I’m reminded of the fact that Marcus no longer feels that way about me.
    “Don’t give her any ideas, Jess. I don’t know how you can still live here year round. This place is like a ghost town unless it’s summer.” Marcus’s condescending tone doesn’t bother Jess.
    “I remember a time when all you did was talk about moving down here, Marky dear. The city is no place to raise children,” she quips back in her sassy way.
    “Alright you two, that’s enough.” Dave speaks up, not wanting to deal with their bickering that is constant lately. Jess and Marcus used to be close, and now all they do was argue with each other. I haven’t even told her the details of my failing marriage. I can only imagine her wrath when she knows.
    Ellie and Sophie show up just in time, bouncing into our arms with Holden and Bridgette close behind. Holden has his arm casually wrapped around Bridgette’s petite waist, rubbing it sweetly. Jess looks at me, rolling her eyes at Holden’s affection towards his girlfriend. While it doesn’t bother me at all, Jess still hates anyone who Holden brings around, and always has. Jess was ecstatic when Holden bought back his parent’s house, and has been working overtime to get the three of us back where we were before our friendship was lost. I mouth for her to stop it and be nice to Bridgette. In her usual stubborn style, Jess shakes her head no and continues to unabashedly glare a hole through Bridgette’s head.
    Sophie holds up two long thin boxes to me, and I know instantly what they are. I give Holden a frustrated glare.
    Sophie cuts off my impending verbal assault of Holden with her excitement. “Mommy, Uncle Howden gaf us spawklers. We have bowxes and bowxes of dem. He said we have to shawre, but dere awre so many, I don’t cawre that I have to