Sarah dared to strike up a conversation about Abby, so Jasper got defensive. I stopped listening when he said they were friends with benefits. That was never going to work, he’d loved her.
Oakley rolled her eyes and tilted her head towards her brother in the front.
I shrugged, letting her know that I was on the same page as he. Jasper was chatting shit.
It was kind of nice to know that we could still have silent conversations. I was now back in the fold.
Sarah parked at mine. “I’ll meet you in there, I’m just going to call Miles.”
“Tell him to come over,” I replied and got out.
“Untle Ole!” Leona screamed, running out the front door at me.
Shit.I managed to cover my area just in time. You only needed to have the collisiononceto automatically protect yourself forever more. She was like a human battering ram.
I missed being greeted like that, though. With everything going on, Leona had temporarily spent more time with Chris, and it was good to have her around again.
I ruffled her hair, making her scowl. “Hey, what’re you doing?”
She flashed me her cheesy, toothy grin. “Watchin’ Peppa.”
What else?
“Can Oaley watch it with me?” she asked, already pulling on Oakley’s hand.
“You should ask her.”
“Of course, I’ll watch it with you,” Oakley said, but there was little choice since she was already being dragged into the living room. “You’ll have to tell me everyone’s names, though.”
Leona’s face lit up. “Well, there’s Peppa and George and Sooozie and Recca…”
She’d pronounced a couple of them right, at least. I would actually miss it when she no longer got words wrong.
I stopped listening to her. One, because I already knew them all. And two, because that show drove me nuts. Peppa was a little brat.
I went into the kitchen where Mum had already started getting the fresh pizzas out of the fridge. Mia was getting the full report from Oakley’s grandparents and my dad. They didn’t waste any time.
Sarah had a lot of questions in her eyes when she turned to me.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected, I guess,” I said, knowing what was going through Sarah’s mind. “She’s been under their control for most of her life and then had four years of waiting around and preparing for the trials. She wants to be the one in control of her life now and move on.”
“I have no idea how she does it. I feel like a mess most of the time. She’s so strong and so focused.” Sarah had said, dabbing her eyes.
“She deserves the world. And so do you,” I said.
“Thank you, Cole. I’m so glad you two found each other again. If any two people were made for each other, it’s you and her.”
I grinned like an idiot, feeling exactly the same. It meant a lot that Sarah believed that, too. There weren’t many people shetrusted her children with anymore, despite them now being adults.
Oakley was the other half of me. No wonder I’d felt hollow the entire time she was away.
“Well,” she said, exhaling deeply. “Let’s do what my daughter wants and move on. I think wealldeserve a bit of happiness now.”
“Okay, so we’ve got about a hundred pizzas, garlic dough balls, and crispy chicken strips. Anyone want salad, too?” Mia offered, opening the fridge.
“Who the hell wants rabbit food when we have pizza and meat?” Jasper asked. With a look of horror, he rejected the lettuce in Mia’s hand, pushing it away like it was going to harm him.
I nodded. “He’s got a point. Not the animal food thing, but I think we have enough.”
