“Even then,” Mom said firmly. “Though I really hope you don’t.”
“You’re biased.”
“I absolutely am. I want my daughter close. I want to make up for lost time. I want to be part of your life.” She took my hand. “But more than any of that, I want you to be happy. Really, truly happy. And I think Dex makes you happy in a way I’ve never seen before.”
She was right. He did.
The question was whether that happiness was worth upending my entire life.
We pulled into Jasper’s driveway, and I hugged Mom goodnight before heading up to my room. I changed into pajamas, washed my face, went through all the motions of getting ready for bed.
But I couldn’t sleep.
My mind was racing, replaying everything everyone had said. About love and sacrifice and choices. About not spending your life wondering. About being brave.
Around one in the morning, I gave up on sleep and grabbed my phone.
Wren answered on the second ring, voice groggy. “This better be important. Do you know what time it is?”
“I’m sorry. I just... I needed to talk.”
Her voice immediately sharpened, sleep falling away. “What’s wrong?”
And I told her everything. About Dex asking me to stay. About my mom staying. About feeling torn between two lives, two futures, two versions of myself.
“So what are you going to do?” Wren asked when I finished, and I could hear the vulnerability in her voice. Her unspoken question.
What about me?
My chest tightened. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m calling you. Tell me what to do.”
“You need to stay in Willowbrook,” she said, and her voice was too bright, too firm. “You need to be with Dex and your brothers and your mom. You need to build that life.”
“Wren…”
“I’m serious, Leigh. This is what you’ve always wanted. Family. Real family. Roots. You can’t pass that up.”
“But what about you?” The words burst out before I could stop them. “What about us? What would you do without me?”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
“I’ll figure it out,” she said finally, but her voice was shaking.
“You won’t.” And suddenly I was crying. “Wren, you haven’t left the lighthouse since I moved in. Six years. You haven’t gone into town, you haven’t seen anyone except me and your familywhen they force their way in. You order everything online. You…”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You’re stuck. And I’ve been enabling it because I needed you as much as you needed me.” My voice broke. “I can’t leave you there alone. You’ll just... you’ll disappear into that lighthouse and we’ll lose you completely.”
“That’s not fair.” Now she was crying too. “You can’t make your life decisions based on me. That’s not how this works.”
“Then tell me how it works. Tell me how I’m supposed to choose between the man I love and my best friend who I’m pretty sure will fall apart if I leave.”
“I won’t fall apart.”
“You will. We both know you will.” I wiped at my tears, knowing she couldn’t see but needing to do something. “Wren, it’s been years since the accident, and you’re still blaming yourself. You watch that ocean like you think one day shes going to just walk up onto the beach. You still wake up screaming from nightmares. And I’ve been there for all of it because you’re my person. Because I love you. Because I can’t just abandon you.”
“So you’re going to give up your happiness to babysit me? Is that what you think I want?”
