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“I know Simone is looking for someone to take over my classes once I’m back in Boston,” I say. “If you’re interested, I could mention you to her.”
“Maybe. I’m not sure if I’ll…if I’ll feel up to it.”
“Okay.”
She talks more about the facility here, about the food and the library and the people she has met. She seems happy, seems thriving. But she never mentions the reasons she ended up here. She’s acting like it’s a vacation of sorts, a getaway. And this version of her has never fully slipped away. She’ll have days—weeks, even—when she’s completely normal.
I worry this is just another hill. That she’s on the trend up, but she’ll hit the downside sometime soon.
But I don’t voice any of those fears.
“We need to go, Natalie,” my father eventually says. He’s stood—silently—for the entire visit. Anger sparks inside of me. I could have driven myself. He didn’t need to come. “Take care of yourself, Lindsay.”
He walks away. I stand, glaring after him.
My mom reaches out and grabs my wrist, waiting until I look at her.
“I’m sorry, Natalie. Truly. About all of it—everything that’s happened. You deserve better.”
I glance at my father’s back, hoping she sees exactly where my eyes have landed. “So do you.”
She lets my arm go, and I start walking away after my father.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
LIAM
The absolute last person I’d expect to find waiting for me is standing next to my car as I leave the club after my lifeguarding shift. My steps slow as I cross the pavement, mentally bracing myself for some sort of standoff.
“Hey,” Wes says, shoving his hands in his pockets as I near.
“Hey,” I respond, unlocking the sedan and tossing my bag into the trunk.
“How’s it going?”
“Uh, fine. You?”
He and Maeve are speaking again. I know that much. Wes has picked her up every night since we got back from my grandparents’.
“All right.” He nods. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”
“Maeve is—”
Wes shakes his head. “This has nothing to do with Maeve. Well, I guess, like tangentially it does…” He sighs. “It’s about Arlington.”
I tense automatically.
“I’m not transferring.”
“You’re not?”
“No. It’s not—well, honestly? The only reason I was considering it was Maeve. I’m happy at Lincoln. Classes, the team, even Michigan. All good. And if she doesn’t want me at Arlington, well then there’s not much point, is there?”
He rubs his jaw as I shift uncomfortably. “Maeve, well. She likes doing things her own way. But she also likes you a lot.”
I’m trying to makeWeston Colefeel better.
The absurd thought occurs to me at the same time he acknowledges it with a shake of his head. “Never thought I’d see the day, man.”
