I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel.
“This is getting out of control. I wanted to use my voice. I wanted to stand up for myself. Not… this.”
“I know, Jade. I know.” Her voice softened. “I’m working on it.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means maybe you should stay at Shani’s tonight. I’ll call her. She can swing by and grab an overnight bag for you. I don’t want you walking into that mess alone.”
I laughed bitterly. “What happened to the badass woman who dusted Leo in a street chase?”
“Oh, she’s still here,” Susan said. “But I’m afraid to leave the house. Someone already tried the back door earlier. And the cats are spooked.”
Great.
Just great.
I imagined those stupid fluffy traitors peering through windows, tails puffed.
“Well, if we didn’t have cats,” I muttered, “we could go to the shelter and get a guard dog.”
Susan huffed. “At this point, we might need a pack of them.”
“Or a moat,” I said.
“Or a cannon.”
“We’d get noise complaints,” she said.
We both snorted.
Then she said, quieter, “Actually, Jade… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
I froze.
“When we drove up to the Cape,” she continued, “I thought it was for you. And it was. But it was also for me.”
My throat tightened.
“Why?”
“You brought life back into this house,” she said simply. “Into my life. I didn’t realize how lonely I’d gotten. How much I’d stopped living. Irene said it to me—and she was right. Watching you fight your way back made me ask why I wasn’t fighting for myself too.”
She inhaled, shaky.
“So… I did something about it.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I have a date next week.”
My jaw dropped.
“Wait—what? Susan!”
She laughed nervously. “Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not dead. I’m fifty-three. I can still wear lip gloss and get asked out.”
“No, no—” I scrubbed a hand through my hair. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I’ve been so wrapped up in my own crap I didn’t think about what any of this has done to you. I’m sorry. I’ve been selfish.”
