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“What if we’re too late?”
He sighs. “I’m worried about that too,” he says. “But we can’t stay here and wait for the other shoe to drop. We’re not helping anybody. And from the sounds of it, it seems like there are plenty of people we can help. People who want our help.”
I look at him for a while. This is somewhat surprising. I know he cares about her. I don’t think he’s being callous, not necessarily, but the resignation in his voice isn’t something I’ve heard before.
Rei Woods has always been stubborn.
It was one of the reasons he’s always been such a good worker. The fact that he’s giving up scares me more than I like to admit.
“But this sucks,” I say.
It sounds childish because it is childish. There’s a part of me that wants to punch him square in the face, mostly since I don’t want him to be right.
Woods always talks sense.
I don’t love this.
It feels like the end of something that’s just starting and Ihateit.
“I know,” he says. “I’m not happy about it. But if that’s what we have to do to protect her, if we need to let her live her life, then that’s what we do. It doesn’t matter if it’s what we want. This isn’t about us.”
I roll my eyes. “What if we leave and something happens to her?”
He shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, Misha,” he says. “Don’t you get it? This isn’t about us. We don’t get to decide.”
There’s nothing else either one of us can say, so we just stand against the giant tree, the wind swaying past us, leaves slowly falling on our faces.
“We need to tell her today,” Woods says, abruptly straightening up and walking back into the house.
My mouth dries when the door closes behind him.
TRINE
I’ve stayed in Alana’s house a few times before, but it always surprises me just how different it is from her personality. She doesn’t care which room I stay in. I like the one at the end of the hallway upstairs because of the view. There are so many trees that go to the end of the property line that it’s hard to even see the ground from here.
The room is really large, with a double bed pressed against the back wall, which is painted an egg white color. The double bed is always made with fresh sheets, but I do wonder when they’re from. I can see a thick layer of dust on the headboard. I wipe it off with the tip of my finger then grimace when I notice how dirty it is.
I don’t have much time to think about it because footsteps quickly approach me. I look up as Alana raps her knuckles on the half-open door. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, curly blonde and blue strands of hair framing her hair. “Hey,” she says. “Are you busy?”
“Slammed,” I reply, rolling my eyes and smiling at her. “Seriously. Thank you for letting me stay.”
“And your entire entourage?”
“And my entire entourage,” I say, walking up to her. “Seriously. I know this is a lot. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help.”
She shakes her head. “Whatever you need,” she says. “I know you’re going through a lot of shit right now. Do you want to talk about it?”
I sigh. “I wouldn’t even know where to start, to be honest with you,” I say. “It’s such a clusterfuck.”
“I’m here to listen,” she says. “And I’m not interested in sleeping with you, so that might take away a layer of complexity.”
I laugh, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Rude.”
“You’re not my type,” she says, sitting next to me. “I mean, no offense. You’re very pretty.”
I shake my head. “Believe it or not, it gets to be a bit much when everyone around you wants to fuck.”
“Oh, I absolutely believe it,” she says. “Those guys look like they havestamina.”
