Page 94 of Broken Pieces

“In third place with her apple cinnamon pie is Judith Maskill!”

Judith, an elderly lady who I remember competing against before takes her yellow ribbon as the crowd applause.

“And in second place with his chocolate banana cream pie, which I was dying for a taste of, Thomas Johnson!”

A kid about fifteen steps forward to accept his red ribbon, his smile beaming. He walks past me and says, “You are totally going to win this, Raelynn. I’ve eaten your pie at The Scrambled Egg and that’s what made me decide to bake. I wanna be able to make things as good as you one day.”

My heart explodes at his comment and I give him a hug before he walks to stand next to Judith.

“Alright ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls, bakers from all around the county, it is the moment y’all have been waitin’ for. This year’s blue-ribbon pie goes to a special lady. She has won in the past and I don’t doubt she deserves this ribbon again.”

I look over and see Sandra puff her chest out. She can’t be much older than me. A pretty brunette with big eyes. Mac said she won the last two years. He also said her pies taste like toilet water compared to mine. I wasn’t about to ask him how he knew that, but I had my suspicions.

“Can I get a drumroll, please? No, no drums. Well damn.” The audience laughs as I hold my breath awaiting the name on the tip of the announcer’s tongue. “Our blue-ribbon pie goes to Miss Raelynn Calloway with her amazingly delicious blueberry zest pie. The judges were kind enough to give me a taste and trust me, folks, you should be askin’ her for the recipe.”

I know I am beaming. I cannot believe I won. I shake hands with the announcer as he hands over the ribbon. Brooks is standing at the front of the tiny stage whistling. Easton next to him. They both look ridiculous.

Brooks takes his phone out and starts snapping pictures of me with my ribbon along with a handful of local newspaper photographers.

I can’t help my smile. I have never felt more excited over winning this contest than I do right now. I know my mom is watching over me, cheering along with Brooks and Easton. I look over at Mac who is shaking his head at Brooks.

Once I get all my congratulations in from the other contestants, Sandra Hershey not so excited for me, I jump off the stage right into Brooks’ arms.

“I knew you would win, baby.”

I kiss him as he holds me. Tears pricking the corners of my eyes. “Thank you for telling me to enter. I didn’t realize how much this would mean to me.”

Easton pulls me away from Brooks and into a hug. “I am so proud of you Raely, I knew you would win again.”

I look up into my brother’s eyes surprised to see tears cresting his lashes.

“Mom would be proud of you.”

I fold myself into his chest as I let the tears fall from my eyes.

“I know I gave you a lot of shit about Brooks. But he seems to have really changed. I talked to Tacoma, she sees it too. And I see how he is with you. I see how you are with him. I am happy for you Rae. I haven’t seen you this happy in years.”

I look up at Easton. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

“But I am going to be the big brother here. You need to guard your heart, Rae. He wasn’t a good guy just a few years ago. Things could change. He could fall back on his ways.”

My smile fades from my face. “I could always fall back on my old ways too, Easton. Did you think about that?”

His eyes grow sad as he realizes his mistake. “Rae,” he says as he pulls me into a hug, “I am sorry I didn’t mean it that way.”

I pull away from him. “Then how did you mean it exactly?”

From the look on his face, I can tell this conversation hurts him but he is hurting me too. He said he would never throw my past in my face and that is exactly what he is doing. “Thanks for coming and supporting me. Mom would be happy you did. But I would rather you leave. Now. I want to celebrate with my friends.”

Harper grabs Easton’s hand as she mouths an I’m sorry to me. I nod at her and turn away.

Brooks grabs my arm and pulls me away. “He didn’t mean that.”

“I don’t care if he did or not, he still said it.”

He wraps his arms around me. “We both have terrible pasts. You never know when those demons will come back and haunt us.”

I look up into his darkened eyes, wondering if this is a warning. “I know, Brooks.”

He nods to accept my agreement and turns to grab something from Mac. He turns back with a sparkling tiara and places it on my head. “I told you you’d win a crown.”

I laugh as I throw my arms around him. Our love for each other is far more than I ever could have asked for. And even though Easton still has his doubts, I don’t. I really can see me and Brooks building a life together. One that includes our kids coming to this very same county fair.