And it’s like we all exhale at the same time.
Later, I call my dad and let him know Daniel won’t be going after anyone.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice shaky.
“I am. I think it’s going to take a while for me to not be looking over my shoulder.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says again.
I look out the window and think about what I expected to feel. I’ve spent years imagining what it would be like to bring Daniel down, having no idea that there was so much else I didn’t know about him. I’m quietly elated and feel lighter. It feels like the beginning of something rather than the end, and I’m happy about that.
It means my world doesn’t revolve around Daniel anymore.
I’m free to move on.
CHAPTER FORTY
WEAK IN THE KNEES
TULLY
I’m in a hotel in Detroit after a game. I just got off the phone with Lola, and I’m missing her. I’m watching a reel on my phone when Goldie calls.
I answer immediately. “Hey.”
“Good game.”
“Thanks.”
“Um. I need to ask you something, and I need you to say yes.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing yet,” she says. “That’s why I’m calling.”
I sit up straighter. “Why do you sound giddy?”
“You’re off Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas.”
“What, do you and Camden just go around memorizing my schedule all the time?”
“For this, I had to check. Do you want to go to Vegas?”
“For—?”
“I want to marry Milo,” she says. “I don’twant to do any work. We’ve worked so hard on Windhaven and Elm & Echo. It’s been a lot, and we’re tired. I don’t want to plan a thing. I don’t want to think about centerpieces or seating charts or signature cocktails?—”
“Okay, I hear you,” I say.
She exhales. “I want to get married, and I want it to be small…and warmer weather sounds really nice right about now. I know it’ll be slightly ridiculous, but that’ll be fun to tell our children one day, you know? And I want my family there. We can have a party in the spring when hockey season is over, and maybe then I’ll be ready to think about a signature cocktail, but the actual marrying part”—her voice cracks a little—“I just want it to be ours.”
“I love this,” I say.
“Yeah?” She sounds relieved.
“I do,” I say. “Who’s coming?”
“I’ll work on it,” she says. “Just had to run it by you, Tulls.”
