“I told her she should move into Maple Street,” my momrepeated patiently, like maybe I hadn’t heard her the first time. “No one is living in it, and before we know it, it’ll be winter. You know Kevin on KARE11?”
I forced myself to breathe out slowly, trying not to lose it over my mother bringing a random weatherman into a conversation that determined the future of my sanity.
“Mhm,” I hummed, picking up the same pillow from the floor and considering whether it could smother my screams enough that my mom wouldn’t hear.
“Well, he says we’re gearing up for a cold one this year, and ya know, it’d be nice to have someone in the house, Sullivan.”
I could not give less of a fuck about the weather, but I sat up even straighter at the mention of winter.
Last night, Ellie had made it sound like she wasn’t sure how long she’d be here or how long she’d live at the Maple Street house. Like maybe it was temporary. Like maybe it would only be a few weeks, a month, something like that.
Winter was much further away than that. Especially if she stayed the entirety of winter, which usually lasted a good five months from start to finish in Minnesota, if not more.
“She’s planning to stay through the winter?” I asked, unable to discern if it was hope or despair in my voice.
I was so fucking conflicted when it came to Eleanor Summers.
“Honey, she’s not back onvacation. She’s moving home.”
Home.
Ellie was moving home.
Intomyhome?
“Is Susan okay?”
Ellie’s mom still lived across the street from my childhood home, so this development only furthered my theory that there must be something else going on that I didn’t know about.
“I—yes? Susie is quite well. I just ran into her at the Patio the other day. Ellie says she’s good, too.”
I blew out a breath of relief.
“I just thought maybe that’s why Ellie wanted to move into Maple Street. Or maybe why she was back.”
“Hmm.” There was something hiding in my mom’s tone, and it made me want to rip my hair out. “I’m not sure exactly, dear. Maybe that’s something you need to ask her.”
God, this woman was literally no help at all.
She’d waited one year too long to birth me, and she kept all my ex-girlfriend’s secrets.
“You are absolutely no help,” I verbalized because she deserved to know that, yes, I was irritated. It felt like she and Ellie were plotting against me.
“I have this novel idea.” I frowned at my phone, justknowingmy mother was about to patronize me. “Maybe you should, I don’t know, talk to her, Sullivan.”
“I did, actually,” I said and then deeply regretted that I’d said it.
“You did?”
She sounded far too hopeful.
A good reminder that I shouldneverlet her find out what had happened in Boston.
“I ran into her,” I explained, trying to keep things simple. She certainly didn’t need to know that I’d hijacked a phone call from Ellie that was supposed to go to Theo and then hightailed it across town because I was so anxious at the thought of anything happening to her and just as mad at the thought of anyone coming to her rescue that wasn’t me.
Fuck, I had no idea how I was going to survive her living so close.
“Ran into her?” my mom questioned—because of course she did.
