“No, thank you,” I push, waving her off. “Is Boone going to be okay with it?”
“He’ll be fine,” she assures me. “Let me worry about him and you worry about letting Mom and Dad know that you’re dropping out.”
Annnnndjust like that, the dread, the nerves, the clammy hands are all back. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, Grady, you have to tell them. You act like we don’t live in a small town and you won’t run into them at some point. Just tell them.”
“Thank you for letting me stay here, but now I hate you.”
Jade throws her head back and laughs as she gets up from her chair. “Love you too, little bro.”
Patting my head like I’m a child, she sniggers before heading back inside, leaving me out here to do what I’d planned on doing anyway… Reading with the rain as white noise. I spend the better part of the day out here, feeling relaxed and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Even if a new weight has been put there with the knowledge that I still have to tell my parents. It’s a much smaller, more manageable weight, knowing I won’t have to tell them, and then also ask them to move back home.
I can do this.
8
Boone Stanton
“Imiss you, princess.”
“Miss you too, Daddy.” Suzy’s holding the phone as she lies down on her bed. The way she’s got it angled, I can only see from her eyes up. “When do you come home?”
“Just a few more weeks, baby. We’re in the home stretch.”
“What’s a home stretch?”
Breathing out a laugh, I say, “It just means we’re close to the finish line. Close to me being home.”
“Ooooh, okay.”
We’ve been talking on FaceTime for the last half an hour, and she’s been giving me play-by-play details on what she’s been up to today. Like how she ran around the yard with Mabel this morning and played fetch with her, but how Mabel isn’t good at playing fetch because she’ll grab the ball and refuse to give it back to Suzy. Or how Uncle Grady made her the wrong kind of oatmeal for breakfast while her mom was at her hair appointment. He apparently gave her banana and cream—which, according to Suzy, is “so disgusting”—and he should’veknown she wanted strawberry and cream, even though she didn’t tell him that. And how he took her to the arena, and she got to see all kinds of horses, and how now she really wants to be an equestrian when she grows up—but when she says it, it comes out as “requestran.”
She’s getting tired, but she won’t admit it. I can tell every time she yawns because her eyes squint and get watery.
“Well, I’m going to let you get to bed, Miss Suzy Q. I love you, sweet girl, and I hope you sleep well.”
“Love you too, Daddy.” As if on cue, she yawns again.
“Can you give the phone to Mama?”
Suzy climbs off the bed, camera pointing to the ceiling now. I can only see the very corner of the top of her head as she leaves her bedroom and pads down the hall toward Jade’s. “Mama! Daddy wants to talk to you.”
Jade takes the phone, glancing down at me only briefly before returning her attention to Suzy. “Can you please go brush your teeth, and then climb into bed? I’ll be in after a while to tuck you in.” Bringing the phone up, she offers me a tired smile. “Hey. How’s it going?”
“Pretty good. How’s it going there?”
“Fine. I actually needed to talk to you about something.”
My brows lift with concern. “Okay, what’s up?”
Jade gets this look when she’s about to tell me something she thinks I won’t like. It’s like her way of telling me she’s not going to budge, even if I don’t like it. Her jaw ticks, her eyes narrow slightly, and she pushes her shoulders back. She’s doing it right now, so I already don’t like where this is going.
“I spoke with Presley a little bit ago—you know, my old boss.”
I nod.
“Well, they’re hiring, and she’s willing to give me a job. I can start at the beginning of October.”
