Page 66 of Passion and Privilege

“Paisley, we need to talk.”

I pushed open the door and walked in. She was curled up on her bed, her eyes fixed on a distant point. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she shot back.

She wasn’t talking to me. She hadn’t talked to me since Catherine left. I didn’t know how to explain it wasn’t really my fault Catherine went home. It was, but it wasn’t. Catherine had her own life, but Paisley wasn’t interested in hearing a rational argument.

“Did you go swimming?” I asked.

She didn’t look at me. “Yes.”

“Can we talk?” I asked.

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Okay, how about I talk and you listen?” I said.

“It’s not like I can stop you.”

“I spoke to your mom,” I said, watching for any reaction.

“Oh goodie. Let me guess, she sent my plane ticket and wants you to get me to the airport?”

“No, not quite.”

“Then what?” she said, sighing. “Does she want to send me to some other foreign country? One of those boot camps? Just tell me. I’m ready for it.”

“I asked her if we could talk about you staying here to live with me,” I said.

Her eyes finally met mine. “Yeah, and? You said you’ve asked her that before. Big deal.”

“This time it’s different.”

“Did you meet her demands? How much am I worth? A million? Two million?”

“I didn’t offer her any money,” I said. “But if that would be the ticket to getting you to stay here, I would.”

“Then what?”

“She said she’s going to think about it,” I said.

“You mean she might actually consider it? She might really let me stay here?”

“I think so,” I said gently, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. “I told her how much you’ve grown since you’ve been here. How well you fit in, how happy you are.”

“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” she said quietly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’ve been let down too many times.”

I reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair off her face. “I know,” I said softly. “But this time it seems like there might be a chance. Before, she always shut it down. There was never a discussion.”

“There has to be some kind of catch, right? Why would she suddenly change her mind?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “But I’m willing to swallow my pride and try to make this work with her. Your happiness matters to me. I want you to have a choice in your life, and if staying here is what you want, I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen, even if that means I have to play nice with your mom.”

Her lips quirked. “I know how hard that must be for you.”

“It’ll be worth it,” I said.

“When will you get an answer?”