I slump into a chair. “Are you implying thatI’mtreating her like a child? In what possible way?”
“I don’t have all the details, Elijah, but I’ve got some guesses.” She pulls out the chair closest to me and takes a seat. “You love that girl so much you can’t see straight, but you also had to grow up way too early and think it’s your job to take care of everyone, so you’re either not with her because you don’t trust Kelsey with your mom while you’re up in Boston?—”
“Of course I trust Kelsey.”
She exhales heavily. “I know that. Which means it’s option number two: you don’t trust Easton when she’s visitingyou.”
I blink. She’s closer than I’d have expected her to get, but she’s missed a lot of the nuance. “It’s not that simple,” I argue for the second time in fifteen minutes. “Her family is a mess.”
“I’m sure it’s not simple at all,” she says. “My point stands, however. You’re protecting her like she’s still that pretty teenager you didn’t want to have a crush on, but she’s actually an adult with more advanced degrees than this entire family has put together. What gives you the right to make her decisions for her? Tell me how that makes you any better than Mr. Famous TV Doctor. It makes youworsethan Thomas, to be honest. Because he’s not breaking her heart, and you are.”
I bury my head in my hands. I want to argue that it’s entirely different. That Thomas demanding she go to bed early and not eat pizza is in no way the same thing as keeping her away from her shitty family. But it’s not as different as I’d like. “She’ll wind up in jail if her brothers are around, Grandma. Believe me.”
My grandmother squeezes my shoulder as she rises, then grabs her napkin of cake. “I don’t doubt that. But if you don’t respect her enough to let her make those decisions for herself, then you don’t even deserve her. She’s better off with a man who doesn’t want her to have cake than she is with a man who can’t see her as a capable adult.”
I laugh miserably. “Easton would never in a million years believe you were out heredefendingher.”
My grandmother smiles. “Well, she’s still not a real doctor. I stand by that one.”
She turns toward the house, and I stare ahead of me, at the handful of stragglers who remain on the dance floor. My grandmother wasn’t wrong: Ihavespent my entire life thinking I had to take care of everyone. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Easton came home and got dragged into something, but maybe that’s something she should know.
Maybe I treat her like the brilliant adult she is and we come up with a solution we can both live with. If I haven’t already lost her, that is.
I head to the other side of the house, where bass is thumping as the after-party gets underway. There’s a disco ball and flashing lights and a tequila luge shaped like the Ferris wheel Hawk proposed on. A food truck has pulled up just outside the tent to serve huge slices of greasy pizza, and a DJ is shouting, “Make some noise!” at the crowd.
I fucking ruined this for Easton. There’s absolutely no way, after what I did, that she is going to come back here and kick off her heels to do shots off the tequila luge like nothing happened.
“Hey.” Hawk slaps a hand on my shoulder. He’s out of his tux and wearing some crazy New Orleans-themed outfit for the after-party. A hundred bucks says Kelsey has one to match. “Have you seen my bride?”
I glance around. “I assumed she was here, actually.”
His tongue prods the inside of his cheek. “She said she was just going up to the bridal suite to change, but your mom was with her and they’ve been gone for a while.”
There’s the tiniest hint of concern in his eyes, a warning that says,It’s not my place to check on your mom, but I’m worried about her.
He’s a good guy. The perfect guy for my sister.
“Let me go check,” I say, my stomach sinking lower than it already was. “It’s probably nothing.”
I head up the stairs to the second floor. My mom’s been doing well these past few days, but it has to have been exhausting. I’ve spent most of the night keeping an eye on my mom—I really hope Kelsey hasn’t been saddled with caring for her now. I arrive at the landing just as my grandmother walks up from the other staircase.
Between us, in the bridal suite, an argument is going on. It’s my mother, using a sharp voice we rarely hear from her. “I told you I’d do it and I will,” she snaps.
“I don’t want it weighing on me through my entire honeymoon,” Kelsey pleads. “Come on, Mom. This is the last time Hawk and I are going to get to ourselves in a very long time and?—”
“That’s ridiculous,” my mother says. “You’re notdying, Kelsey. I’ll do it, but not here. There’s too much else going on. And I’m still not sure.”
The door is ajar. I push it open. My grandmother follows.
“You’ll do what?” I ask.
Two alarmed pairs of eyes jerk in my direction.
“Nothing,” they say in unison.
I push a hand through my hair. Jesus, I’m tired. I’m tired of managing everyone and worrying about everyone. I’m tired of giving up the one fucking thing I want. “Just tell me,” I sigh.
“Elijah,” my sister says in a tight voice, “I love you, but I am a twenty-nine-year-old woman having aprivate conversationwith my fifty-nine-year-old mother and this doesn’t concern you.”
