She shrugs and then smiles at me. “He’s around a lot.”
I narrow my eyes and wait for her to finish saying what she’s thinking.
She gives me a look full of unfiltered delight. “When are you moving back in with him?”
I arch a brow, amused, because it’s so good to see Katya getting some of the color back in her life. “When? Not if?”
She rolls her eyes. “Puhlease.”
I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “Ah…I don’t know when.” I’ve been ready to move back home with Aiden for a while, but after Anya passed, I didn’t want to leave Katya alone. He understands. He doesn’t like it, though.
We walk for a while and finish our cider, dropping the cups into orange-painted trash bins.
“People come from all over to see the fall colors in Vermont, and we just have them,” she says dreamily, gazing at the hills. She turns to face me, and there’s a softness to her face. She grips my hand. “You helped me get through the worst part of losing Mama. Thank you.”
I shake my head, squeezing her hand. “We don’t say thank you between us.”
She chuckles. “I know, but I need to say thank you as a way of kicking you out of my house.”
I blink against the sudden sting in my eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, Mia, I am. The dementia took her away fromus bit by bit, but at least she was still there. Now, she’s gone and I need to figure out what this life looks like without her.”
I lick my lips, tasting the remnants of the cider. “I…it doesn’t feel right. Maybe in a?—"
She growls, cutting me off, the wind catching strands of her hair. “Go. Live. Let yourself be happy.”
Before I can respond, a familiar voice calls my name.
“Mia?”
“Oh no,” I mutter when I see Betty, wearing oversized sunglasses, and an expensive wool wrap the color of autumn leaves.
Betty smiles at me. “How are you?”
I eye my formerandfuture sister-in-law suspiciously. “Fine.”
She gives an awkward little smile, clears her throat. “It’s been so long since we saw you.”
She hasn’t seen me since Christmas Eve.
“Uh huh.”
She gives me a wan smile. “Look, I know I’ve been awful to you. But?—"
“Lady, what’s your play here?” Katya demands, stepping slightly in front of me, like she’s ready to block whatever Betty might throw my way—literally.
Betty blinks at the hostility, shaking her head. “I…I just wanted to say hello.”
“You’re a Winter. We don’t trust your kind,” Katya says flatly.
“Not going to be a Winter for long.” There’s a flicker of somethingbroken in her eyes.
“No way.” The words slip out before I can stop them. I honestly never thought she’d leave Tristan.
She exhales, hard. “A month ago, I found out I have—” her voice drops—“gonorrhea.”
A surprised chuckle escapes both Katya and me. There’s just something about this most elegant woman sayinggonorrhea.
