She blinks twice, eyes going soft and shiny, and then she’s glaring again.
“Nigel. Your private parts can recover later. Be more useful than that other one and pick her up,” the old lady orders.
“Overmydead body,” I growl softly.
Grandma screams.
Nigel screams.
Peggy yowls and hisses and shoots out of my arms, dashing to the bathroom.
I step forward, pushing Granny Gaslighter into Sloane’s bedroom. “What do you mean,the other one?”
Nigel moves like he’s trying to get over the pain in his private parts.
I hold one hand up, and he freezes. “Take one step toward me and Sloane’s gonna give you a concussion with one of those dildos next. Don’t test her arm. She’s gotten fucking good playing softball the past few years.”
“Who do you think you are, issuing orders?” Granny Gaslighter says to me.
She’s taller than I expected. Almost as tall as Sloane.
Has the same blue eyes, but Granny’s are snappy where Sloane’s are kind.
“He’s my friend, and he’s welcome here, and you’re not,” Sloane says.
Red and blue lights flash against the wall.
Her breath audibly catches.
“You’re not marrying my granddaughter today, you sheep-lover,” Granny Gaslighter says.
“You’re right, he’s not,” Sloane says. “We’re not getting married. I told you we were and he was kind enough to go along with it because I wasso fucking tiredof your absolute bullshit attitudes, thinking you know me better than I know myself, that I can’t possibly know that I’m so much goddamn happier thousands of miles away from you.”
It should be the best thing I’ve heard all week.
It is.
But I still freeze, my body flashing hot and cold at the same time.
She doesn’t need me anymore.
It’s both the most beautiful and the most terrifying thought I’ve ever had in my life.
She doesn’t need me.
She’s strong.
She’s capable.
This week—it’s changed her. And with the right people in her life, ultimately, it’ll be for the better.
And she has those people.
She has Tillie Jean and Max. Annika and Grady. Cooper and Waverly. Their parents. Pop and Nana. The bartender at the Grog. Doc. Her patients.
Beck and Sarah.
Sloane’s voice wobbles as she continues, but I don’t think it’s sadness.
