Julian pointed at me. “No more plotting while I’m asleep.”
If this was my normal, I was incredibly grateful for it. Well, everything except the panic attack or whatever that was.
“We need to see Dina, too.”
They all nodded. Okay. A shower. That was first.
After eating,we all piled into Barrett’s car. This time I was in the back between the twins. “Where did you get this car?”
“Stephen bought it for him when we first got down here. We actually considered shipping his car from the Hamptons down here. That didn’t seem to make a lot of sense on these roads and with this weather.” Julian smiled at me. He was bright-eyed despite the fact that he’d had to spend the night uncomfortably because of me. Or rather the morning.
“Is that what happened?” Phoenix laughed. “I didn’t remember.”
I hadn’t been in the town yet. After a long drive down a two-way highway, we arrived. Barrett parked the car, and we got out. Jeremy nodded left. “This way. The store is over there.”
Given that this whole area was basically a hiding place for families who lived the way the Lents did, it was crazy how this small town was so normal looking. Hair salon. A drug store. A place to get cell phones. A bakery. A grocery store. A place for kids to take karate and ballet. Even something that was called The Shack and smelled like barbecue and spices.
“Is that good?” I asked them, and Phoenix nodded.
“It’s great. Let’s go there soon. When we’re not having to investigate our neighbors.”
We walked toward the store with the cell phones, and I tried to take all of this in. “It’s like we’re on a different planet from Manhattan.”
The brick storefronts stood charmingly along the sidewalk. The bakery had a maroon awning, the scent of freshly bakedbread. Next to it, the pharmacy’s green awning stretched over the entrance, followed by the grocery store just beyond—another green awning marking the way in. “The Shack” stood beside them, its black awning giving it a slightly understated presence that seemed to illustrate it was a restaurant, not a shop.
Further ahead, I noticed a building with a sign reading “Coalition,” its clean, simple lettering standing out against the brick. What was in there? Parked cars lined the curb. A single streetlamp stood near the bakery. Barrett had parked us in a lot down the way. A small place out of time in some ways.
Phoenix turned around to walk backward, staring at me. “Hey, guess what? I forgot to tell you.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You are making a lot of money. I opened you a bank account. First thing I did when I got out of the clinic. Anyway, you’re earning. Sending you the link and your login. You can get the app on your phone. So… you don’t have to wait for your inheritance.”
My mouth fell open. “Phoenix, you did. How did you?”
“Anything is possible. I promise you that.” His smile was huge.
That reminded me. “Which one of you didThe Poor Relation?” I hadn’t thought about it at all. Not in the days I’d been back. I wasn’t even sure how I would get it started again. I needed to feel Gretchen and right then whatever let me do that was just a blank. Nothing.
“Phoenix and I did it together.” Julian smiled. “What did you think?”
“I only saw the one episode, and I was sort of shocked to see it. I don’t remember thinking anything except being stunned. I had… well, you know I had sort of given up on us and then I couldn’t really understand why you’d do it. But I commented because it just felt like I absolutely had to.”
Barrett nudged me with his shoulder. “You won’t have reason to give up again. We’ll always be where you can reach us. On that note, when my father says that we have to go back to New York and we tell him no that doesn’t work for you right now, don’t say you don’t have to be part of the decision making. You have to be part of the decision making. Okay?”
I sighed. I’d totally forgotten I’d done that. “I think I must be broken.”
“We all are.” He smiled at me. “But we’re putting ourselves together, all of us together. We’ll crack here and there but not shatter. Okay?”
I loved that. “Okay.”
We reached the outside of the store and Phoenix took my hand, pulling me to the side. “Give us one second and we’ll be right in.”
“Sure. ” Jer smiled. “Just don’t abscond with her. Okay?”
“Oooh. ” Phoenix laughed. “SAT word.”
His blond-haired brother gave him the finger, and they all walked into the store.
