“Amy. My feelings for Jo... They’re in the past.”
“Then why don’t you let them go?”
“You’re the one who keeps bringing them up!”
I stared at him, my eyes leaking and my face like stone.
“My relationship with Jo is part of me. Part of who I was. Before I was a disappointment to everybody.”
He was breaking my heart. “Then you’re selling us both short,” I said. “Trey, I love you. Not the boy you used to be, but the man you could be now. I’m ready to make a life with you.”
Well, shit. My hand flew over my mouth. I hadn’t meant to say that.
He raised his eyebrows. “It’s a little soon for that, isn’t it?”
“We’ve known each other fifteen years.”
“And you’ve been home a week.”
“Almost two months.”
“And then you left,” he shot back. “How long before you leave again?”
I stared at him, realization dawning. “This isn’t even about me, is it? It’s about everybody else who’s ever left you.”
He glared. “That’s stupid.”
“Yes, it is.” I was suddenly, gloriously, furious. “You know what? Forget the lease.”
“But the location’s perfect for you.”
I tossed my head. “How do I know? Maybe something better will come along. I wouldn’t want to take a chance and lose out.”
“Amy, be reasonable. You can’t give up something you want because you’re afraid of a little risk.”
“Nope. No way. It’s too big a commitment.”
He held my gaze. The air charged between us. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, I see what you’re trying to do here. But, Amy...”
“Screw you, Trey. I deserve better than to be your plan B. I deserve everything. And if you won’t give it to me, I’ll be fine without you.”
His jaw set. “So I was right. You are leaving.”
“Wrong. Again. You don’t want to be my lover? Fine. But I’m not letting you wriggle out of being my landlord.”
CHAPTER 28
Abby
Mothers don’t sleep, the saying goes. We just worry with our eyes closed.
For years, I lay alert for the cry, the cough, the footsteps coming up the stairs after curfew. The flush of the toilet. The phone call in the middle of the night.
Old habits are hard to break.
“Mom?” A whisper.
I stirred. Amy stood in the doorway of my room, her hair haloed in the light from the hall.
