“Why not? You’re happy.”
“But I’m me and you’re you, andyouare not meant to be on your own. You’re only used to it. There’s a difference.” Bree made a wet respiratory noise that landed somewhere between a snort and throat clear. “This one snores, if you weren’t aware. Her grandmother pointed at Bree’s head. “It’s a pregnancy thing. I sounded like a truck horn blaring over an overpass when I was pregnant with your mother. She’s coming for the Fourth of July by the way.”
Lainey grimaced instinctually at her grandmother’s invention of yet another opportunity for her mother to disappoint her. “Can we stop with that?”
She looked confused. “With what?”
“With the ‘Camille’s coming’ bit. We’re never going to have this mother-daughter moment you want us to have. You have to stop forcing this. This is how we are.”
Her grandmother shook her head. “I can’t accept that.”
“Why not? I’m fine with it.”
“That’s the part I won’t accept. You’re not fine with it, but I think you are starting to believe you deserve it.”
Lainey could feel the defensiveness rising in her chest against her will like a Pavlovian response. But what had she said to Tobin just hours ago in the middle of a gas station mini-mart?
You decided I wasn’t worth the trouble.
What had been the consequences of having two parental figures abandon her? What was the cost?
Lainey didn’thateTobin or Camille. Sometimes she wished she did. Villains were tidy. They were someone to blame. Lainey knew it was more complicated than that, but it had never made it hurt less. As much as Tobin seemed to regret giving up on her,he’d never fought for her. Meanwhile, Camille was still traveling the world in search of something else to give her life purpose, when Lainey had been right there, ready and waiting.
“It’s okay to want more than what you have. To need people. To ask them to be good to you and to be angry when they’re not. You’re worth so much more than what you’ve learned to accept.” Gran, smiling fondly, reached over Bree’s sleeping body to smooth Lainey’s hair. “You don’t need to be so tough all the time, my dear. Acting like you don’t need anyone won’t make it true, because that’s not how life works. Trust me.”
“Youdon’t need anyone,” Lainey replied, her voice soft.
“That’s not true. I need you.” Gran looked briefly discomposed, which wasn’t like her. Then she blinked it away. “But I don’t need your money, and you need to stop sending it, because I can’t convince this place to stop accepting it.”
“You know about…?” Lainey shook her head. “It’s too expensive here. You’re going to fall behind on payments.”
“I have my ways, and you know I’m at my best when my back is against a wall. Worry about yourself, and let me worry about me.” She tilted her head toward Bree. “You’re not alone, dear. You have a lot of people who are ready to be in your corner the moment you say the word. I imagine that’s the case with this boy of yours as well.”
Lainey pulled the blanket higher up on her chest. “He is solidlynotin my corner. He’s at the opposite side of the ring.”
“Yes, I heard about the property contract. Very clever of him.”
“Gran!” Lainey laughed, scandalized.
“What? I can admire a good grift when I see one.”
“Well, clever or not, I was the one who got conned in the end.”
“Oof.” Her grandmother reached for a tin on her bedside table and passed it to Lainey. “I’ve never liked that feeling. Now,darling, one side is Rolos and the other’s cigarettes. You decide what you need.”
Lainey sighed. “Gran, you shouldn’t be smoking.”
“I don’t. They’re for guests.”
Lainey made the deliberate choice not to think too deeply about who might require guest cigarettes and grabbed a Rolo.
“Now what I don’t understand about his dastardly plans is why he’s still married to you.” Gran tapped her chin, like this required deep consideration.
“It was the only way he could get the property. I sign the prenup. We get married—”
“You get divorced,” Gran finished. “Right, of course. So why not divorce you right away?”
She hadn’t considered that. “I don’t know.”
