She kisses my cheek, then, along with her mates, heads back inside the lodge.
Aisha pulls out her phone, which is vibrating, and turns the screen so we can see Troy is FaceTiming her.
“Would you believe I forgot to call and tell him the war is over?”
Jasper and I both laugh as she hits the button to answer. “Hey baby, good news. You can come home!”
She lifts her brows at us to say she’ll take the call inside, then makes her way into the lodge as well.
Leaving Jasper and me alone with the setting sun.
We turn and wrap our arms around each other and Jasper wipes a final tear from my cheek with his thumb.
“You think we’ll ever come back here?” I ask.
He lifts his head and surveys the campsite, breathing in deeply as if he’s trying to take in as much of the forest air as he can.
“I think we should,” he says. “Once in a blue moon.”
Just then the doors to the lodge swing open and Salazar comes running outside, cell phone in hand.
“Jasper, news from the city!”
“What is it?” he asks.
“Your father,” Salazar says. “He’s awake.”
A NEW BEGINNING
“Hey, what’s the hurry, mister?” Mom calls from the living room as I bolt down the stairs, tripping over my feet and colliding with the wall.
“Ouch,” I say, rubbing my forehead.
Dad pokes his head into the hall. “You okay?” He’s wearing an apron and holding a jar of marinade. Steak sandwich season is upon us. “What’s the commotion?”
“I’m late,” I say, eliciting loving eye rolls from both of my parents. “I told Jasper I’d be in the Hamptons in like”—I pull out my phone and check the time—“crap, like an hour and a half.”
“Well, that’s unrealistic,” Mom says, letting the book she’s reading drop to her lap. “Text him and tell him you’ll be late. I don’t want you speeding.”
“Yes, okay.” I’m already grabbing the keys to my new car, an “I’m glad we didn’t die and also Happy Graduation” gift from Jasper. It’s totally too much but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Hey, you’re not too adult to kiss your mother,” Mom says. I groan but stomp into the living room to give her a hug and let her muss my hair, happy to know in some ways I’ll always be her pup.
“And one for Paps!” Dad says, standing in the arch doorway.
“You’re too sticky,” I say, looking at the smears on his apron. “How about a fist bump?”
He thinks for a moment. “I’ll take it!”
The goodbyes to my folks out of the way, I head outside into the warm sunshine of a summery midmorning. It’s taken acouple of weeks since the battle at the pack retreat for them to stop checking in on me every couple of hours, but as I trot down the driveway, I’m comforted knowing no matter what they’ll always be there for me, standing in my corner. There’s a tough conversation to be had about college and my plans for the future, but we’ve come so far, I know they’ll trust me to do what’s right.
I reach the car, which somehow knows to unlock before I’ve even touched the handle.Spooky!Then I jump into the driver’s seat. The car Jasper bought me is a red two-seater Jeep, not as sleek as his black sports car, but super cool, and definitely more my style. He said his reason for buying it was so that I could get to him faster from wherever I was. But part of me also wonders if he had a sense of what was coming, about what I’m planning on telling him today.
As I pull out of our driveway and onto the street I glance back at the house and find Mom and Dad standing in the open doorway, waving me off. I wave back, laughing, then drive away.
After what happened at the retreat, I thought they’d be totally freaked but they said whatever I did passed through them as well, and somehow I think it’s made them a little more chill, like it proved that no matter how much I grow up or how far I travel from them, we’ll always be connected. I like that they know I’m always just a phone call away, even though I’ve been sort of a dick about making sure they know where I’m at—especially when faced with life-threatening situations—over the last couple of years.
It’s funny, I think as I turn off our road and head for the highway, after everything we’ve been through, I feel closer to them than ever. And just super freaking grateful to have parents as goofy and understanding as them.
