“Are you okay?” Peyton asked her. “We can hire you another nurse, you know, for when I can’t be here. Doc Shaffer said the OD probably took a lot out of you.”
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” insisted Susan. “It’s like I just took a really long nap.”
I went to the kitchen to get Susan a glass of water, overhearing Peyton say softly, “She could have killed you, Mom. That was what she wanted.”
“I know, Peyton,” said Susan, smiling at me as I handed her the glass. “But I’m here. I’m okay. And Amanda is in custody. Let’s move past this.”
I could tell Peyton wanted to do anything but move past this, but she wasn’t going to continue to argue with Susan. Instead, she threw me an annoyed look and stood up, going to the kitchen to check the fridge for groceries.
“Mom, there are still leftovers in here that are good,” she shouted from the kitchen. “Do you want me to warm you something up?”
Susan glanced at me, her eyes pleading, and I chuckled.
“Peyton, I think your mom is just fine. Maybe we should leave her to rest.”
Peyton came out of the kitchen a moment later with a bowl of warm soup and a napkin. She sat it next to her mother and glared at me.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“And you are, sweetheart,” assured Susan. “But Korbin is right. I just need the rest.”
“Mom, are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?”
“I’ll call you if I need you,” she said with a smile. “You’re much closer now, aren’t you? I’ll be fine.”
Peyton looked back and forth between Susan and me as if waiting for someone to argue this, to defend her concern. When nobody spoke, her expression turned into a glare.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll go.”
“I love you, sweetheart,” Susan said as Peyton leaned down to kiss her. “Have fun with your new fiancé, okay? Go get some dinner and dessert and talk about the wedding. Oh, the wedding, I’m so excited for the wedding.”
“Me, too, Mom,” said Peyton softly. “Me, too.”
It took a few more minutes, but I could finally drag her out of the house and back to the truck, waving over our shoulders at Susan, who was now smiling at the window.
“She’ll be fine, Peyton,” I said, reaching across the console to squeeze her hand. “But I know you’re worried.”
“I feel like every time I turn my back on her for a brief time, something happens,” she murmured, her eyes on the house as we drove away, slowly vanishing from sight. “One of these times, it’s going to be too late.”
“She beat cancer,” I reminded her. “And this whole Amanda thing was a freak circumstance. But she’s done, Amanda is. She can’t hurt anybody else.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” grumbled Peyton, and I glanced over at her and laughed.
“Are you hungry? We can stop and get some food before we head home.”
“Sounds great,” Peyton said as her phone buzzed, alerting her of a text. She glanced at the screen, giggled, and then looked at me. “Did you give Paisley my number?” she asked. “She just texted me asking when we would get together for wedding planning.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be the first one to reach out, especially with everything that’s going on,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind.” I shrugged, pulling into the parking lot of our favorite Chinese restaurant.
“I don’t.” She looked back at the phone and typed a quick reply before sending it. “Because you’re right. I think this is what I need.”
“Good then.” I turned off the engine and went to the passenger’s door to open it for her, slipping my arm around her waist to pull her into me. Peyton burrowed her body into mine, resting her head against my arm as we walked.
“Thank you,” she said so quietly that I almost hadn’t heard her. “Thank you for being so good through all of this. So wonderful.”
“I haven’t done anything,” I grumbled. “I’m the reason that Amanda Briggs was ever in your life, or Susan’s, for that matter.”
“It’s not your fault,” said Peyton with a shake of her head. “No one thought Amanda was capable of this. But—we survived, right? She didn’t manage to kill anyone this time around.”
