“People aren’t black and white—good or bad, wrong or right,” Aurora says. “Probably not your grandmother and grandfather, either.”
I hum in agreement.
We’re quiet for a second, and then Aurora adds, “I don’t think you would remind me of your grandfather, if I met him.”
She says it easily, matter-of-factly, but I can see in her gaze that she knows this is what’s really bothering me.
I sigh, my shoulders slumping. “Maybe not. I don’t know. I am charming.”
Her pink lips curve into half a smile at my weak humor. “You have your moments, I suppose.”
I scrub my hand down my face. “Talk about sad. Elabeth spent her whole life mourning and resenting her sister,” I say, to change the subject. “But all she had to show for being right was that she died alone.”
Although I’m not looking at her now, I can feel Aurora bristle. “Well, yeah,” she says. “But Kitty completely betrayed her.”
“She did,” I say with a shrug. “Goddard too. It was a scummy thing to do. But the ending was still the same.”
Aurora doesn’t answer, but the tension is still there, and a defensiveness I only partly understand. So I move on once again.
“I guess I’ll try to break the negative cycles,” I say, infusing lightness into my tone. “And if I don’t manage, Nessa definitely will.”
“How is she?” Aurora says.
I grasp the subject gratefully. “She’s amazing. She’s awesome. I’m in love. I have a million pictures of her. Look.” I lean across Aurora—invasively, I can admit—to grab my phone, which is still on her other side. Her breath brushes my neck, sending a shiver through me, but I ignore it. I grab the phone and return to my spot; then I hold it out and click the button sothe screen turns on, revealing the photo of Nessa as my current background.
And to my surprise, a little sound I can’t identify slips from Aurora’s lips—anaw, maybe, or a coo.
I knew it,I find myself thinking with satisfaction. Even the ice queen isn’t immune to Nessa’s cuteness. “She’s cute, right?”
“She is,” Aurora says, and when I look at her, her gaze is softer than usual. “She definitely is.”
It feels like a win, seeing this reaction from her. The screen of my phone goes black after a second, but I can’t quite pull my eyes away from the woman next to me.
“Hey,” I say, because as tempting as it is, I can’t just keep staring at her. “You’re not consoling me anymore.”
“I told you I wouldn’t,” she says.
“I think you gave up too soon. What if I were one of your sisters? Would you still be patting my back?”
She laughs at this, a true, ringing laugh—a burst of unfiltered sound. “That’s possibly the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.”
I grin, because she’s not wrong.
Then she goes on. “I console my sisters because I like taking care of them. They’re younger and?—”
“I’m younger,” I point out.
“Yeah, well,” she says, rolling her eyes. “They need consoling when they’re upset. Even India, and even when she acts like she doesn’t. But you…”
My pulse jumps.
Is she about to say what I think she’s about to say?
When she doesn’t go on, I decide to prod a little. “I…? What?”
But she gives me nothing. She doesn’t even meet my eye.
So I sigh. “Suit yourself,” I say, standing up. My legs are falling asleep. I pause and then speak again. “You’re correct. Ican take care of myself.” That’s what she was going to say. I know it. “But it’s nice having someone else there too, isn’t it?”
