His voice was quiet in the night. "No."
"Why not? Because you're paying me for the privilege?"
"I'm paying you because it's fair."
"To who?"
"You," he said. "Look, it was my mistake, not yours. SoI'mpaying for it, not you."
"And what about Willow?"
"What about her?"
"You were the one who wassodetermined that I should stay through the end. And now you're paying me to leave? Do you realize how insane you sound?"
"Fuck yeah, I realize. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because Iaminsane." He made a scoffing sound. "Shit. I don't mean clinically. I just mean, I haven't been thinking straight. But I do know one thing."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"It's nobody's fault but my own. So I'm gonna make it right."
"No you're not," I said. "What you'retryingto do is write a check to make a problem go away. And I’m here to tell you, I'm not having it."
"Meaning?"
"I'm not leaving. If you're paying me, I'm staying."
"Is that a joke?"
"No." My jaw clenched. "Because unlike you,Ican be an adult about it."
"And I can't?"
"Obviously not," I said. "Have you listened to yourself? Here, you go on and on about how much you care about Willow, and then, when things get a little dicey, you think you can just whip out a wad of cash–"
"I thought it was a check."
"Yeah. AndIthought you cared about your sister."
His voice grew ragged. "You think I don't?"
"No. WhatIthink is you're not thinking straight, just like you said. I mean, come on. Earlier today, you jumped your own brother. That's not exactly normal, you know."
"Trust me," he said. "It was a long time coming."
"I don't care. I'm just telling you, you're full of it." Now that I was going, I couldn't seem to make myself stop. "And as long as we're having it out, here's a question. Why on Earth do you keep hiring nannies in your own age group?"
"As opposed to what?"
"Like some nice grandmotherly type." I made a sound of irritation. "Or are you worried they'll get all 'naughty' with you, too?"
"That's not it."
"Are you sure?" I said. "What, you think no one can resist you?"
