Not when I know they need help.
It doesn’t matter how long or heavy it weighs on my shoulders and heart.
“What’s Paisley like?” Molly asks, and I bend my legs up to curl my arms around them.
“She’s small…fine-boned. Like she’s breakable.” She looks a little younger than fourteen, on the shorter side and scrawny. On the drive to Center City, Erik gave me a quick rundown of what he knew about her: that she was a preemie and spent a lot of time in the NICU because of different infections, one of which caused her hearing loss. But she’s healthy now. At least, physically.
According to my brother, the Longs had a hard time learning how to communicate with Paisley, but once Camden was signed to Philadelphia out of college, he paid for tutoring for his parents and himself and footed the bill for anything else they needed. ASL is a complicated language, and without anyone for Paisley to communicate with, they ended up traveling to workshops and camps so they could all participate more fully in the Deaf community. Now, she has to start all over.
“She seemed fine when I was with her,” I explain, “but it feels like it’s just under the surface.” I fist my hands by my chest, imagining that elephant on the lungs sensation, the fear of breaking down at any moment.
Molly wrinkles her nose. “Gosh, I feel so bad.”
“Gosh,” I repeat with a laugh. My friend and her good, pure heart.
She smacks me with a decorative pillow before using it toprop up her head when she lies down next to me. “So you think you’ll be all right with Camden for the next few weeks?”
I lift my shoulder. “I don’t know. As long as he stays out of my hair, it’ll be fine.”
Or maybe not.
Molly settles her folded hands on her stomach. “It’ll kinda be impossible for him to stay out of your hair when you’re the one working for him.”
“Can we stop talking about him like he’s my boss? He’s not my boss. I am not his employee.”
“He’s paying you.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t some power-trip situation.” I flick my hand in the air, imagining how he’d probably love to hold it over my head. “He is not above me in any way whatsoever.”
She huffs a laugh. “You two are so alike. You just hate to admit it.”
I jerk back at the insult. “Excuse me?”
She ticks off our so-called similar attributes on her fingers. “You’re both stubborn. You can both be quick-temperedandquick-witted. But you both have a lot of layers to peel back. I think you misjudged each other. A realPride and Prejudicesituation.”
“I’ve never read it,” I say as haughtily as possible, still annoyed that she’d lump Camden and me together.
“Me either, but you had to have seen the Keira Knightley version, right?” When I shake my head, she’s the one who jerks back. “You’veneverseen it?” She grabs hold of my hand with both of hers. “Nadine no middle name Rivera! How?”
I’m not sure if the question is rhetorical, but I frown. “Not much for historical stuff.”
She slides off the bed like I’ve killed her, though she doesn’t let go of my hand when she speaks to me from the floor. “We are watching it. Tonight.”
I roll to the edge of the mattress. “How much you wanna bet you fall asleep five minutes into it?”
She shakes her head. “No. No, I won’t. It’s one of my favorite movies ever. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it. Even Erik loves it.”
“Really?” I laugh, though my brother loves anything Molly loves.
“Yeah, come on.” She finally lets go of me to push herself up off the floor, only to take my hand again once I’m standing. “But seriously? I think you’re going to be great for Paisley. And maybe for Camden too.”
I snort. “Doubt it.”
She tosses me a mischievous grin before leading the way down the hall. “You might actually start to like him.”
“Not happening.”
Molly should know me well enough by now; I don’t suffer fools.
