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Sicily paused and instantly, her face contorted in suspicion. “What did I do?”
“Nothing, nothing,” I laughed. “You’re not in trouble. I just wanted to talk to you about… your dad.”
Sicily deflated a bit. Talking about Alton was a source of guilt for her, considering she hadn’t allowed herself to see him since the Fog came and changed everything. Since then, we’d been getting the occasional call and request for more time with her, but she’d been adamant about keeping her space from her dad, worried that whatever the Fog had done to us, it might be contagious. That theory was less provable now that Dean and Mason had moved to town and hadn’t turned into anything.
I watched Sicily take the stairs up to my front porch two at a time and then I led her over to the porch swing, sighing as I tried to think of the best way to continue. I was right careful when I sat down on the old, wooden swing, putting most my weight on the unwounded butt cheek.
“Is Dad getting angry?” Sicily sat on the edge of the porch swing and screwed up her mouth anxiously, fingers fiddling in her lap. “I try to text him when I can, but things have just been busy, you know?”
“He’s notanything,don’t worry.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I didn’t think it quite hit the mark, considering how much she squirmed. “This isn’t me passing on a message. I just wanted to… well, I’ve just been thinking lately. You’ve been getting older and I know how much your pa wants to be a part of your life.” I picked at my cuticles, not entirely sure why this conversation wasn’t coming easily. “I was wondering if you’d consider visiting him for the holidays this year? Maybe take some time before Christmas.”
Sicily’s brows raised. She sat back, somewhat more relaxed, but peered at me with what looked like confusion. “Mama, you know why I haven’t been around Dad’s in a while. I don’t want him to get affected by any lingering effects of the Fog.”
Right. I’d prepared for this. “I know, but…” I sat forward, hands arched on my knees. “Dean and Mason have been here for long enough now that I think you can use them as a test.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How so?”
“Well, havetheybeen affected by being around the rest of us at all?” I watched her closely, giving her an encouraging half-smile. She was quiet for a moment, but I could see her mind slowly turning until she frowned, shifting further back into the porch chair with folded arms.
“That’s a good point,” she mumbled. “They seem totally fine.” Then she looked at me. “But they haven’t been here that long.”
“True,” I started but then cocked my head to the side. “Yet, you have and you’re also totally fine.”
“Point taken.”
“So, as of right now, I think it’s safe to go out of town for more than a few days at a time. I know you’ve been concerned about that, and rightfully so, but your pa misses you.” I paused as I remembered the last phone conversation I’d had with Alton and how broken up he was about Sicily. “If you keep ignoring him, you’re gonna end up burning that bridge, and I know you don’t want that any more than he does. He really cares about you, and you care about him.” I sighed, shifting my look to something softer as I raised my brows at Sicily. “Will you think about it, at least?”
“I’ll think about it.” She cocked her head to the side. “But what about the guys and the investigative team?”
I nodded, figuring this would be coming. “All I’m saying is you spend a week or so with your dad for the holidays. Then you can get back to your monster hunting as much as you like.”
Sicily sighed. “Well… I guess you’re right,” she said, but her body language didn’t shift. “I’m still not sure, though. Not that Iwantto cut Dad out, but I feel like there’s still so many important things to do around here.”
“Honey, there’s always gonna be things to do.”
“But these things aren’t just regular things! These things areimportant!I’d just…” I watched as Sicily wilted a bit, and knew this wasn’t a case of her just being stubborn. Gently, I leaned forward and put my hand on her knee, waiting until she looked at me to speak.
“You’d feel like you’re leaving everyone behind?”
Slowly, Sicily nodded, and I sighed and stood behind her to wrap my arms around her shoulders. She grabbed me and we hugged for a moment before I tilted her chin up to make her look me in the eyes again. “No one is going to think you’re abandoning them to spend time with your pa, Sicily,” I said. “They all know how hard you’ve worked to make life better for all of us in Windy Ridge. You deserve a break. So, how about this?” I stood up and walked in front of her as I nodded to the trailer, and specifically to the window of her bedroom. “Pick one of the projects you’ve got going on right now and we can work on it together. Leave the bat-man to Bud and them. After we finish whatever project you choose, then you can go to your dad’s guilt-free. How’s that sound?”
Sicily folded her arms in thought. I started to get a little nervous as her eyes shifted away from the trailer and instead landed on the street that led to downtown Windy Ridge, meeting mine with a hesitant but hopeful edge.
“Do you think you could get Sheriff Dean to help us, too?”
I sputtered. Sicily smirked at me but continued with her pleading look, so I stood tall with my hands on my hips, trying to push down any nervousness at the prospect of bringing Dean into this. After our last meeting, things were a little… uncomfortable. At least for me. “I… I mean, I guess it depends on what it is you want his help with.”
“The census,” Sicily said, and immediately, I had to stifle a groan. Sicily had been attempting to collect data about the residents of Damnation County for months. She wanted to map out where everyone now lived since the coming of the Fog, how many people remained in each household, what they’d turned into, who was still missing, etc., etc., etc. So far, she’d been able to map out about half of Windy Ridge, but the other towns were less inclined to want to work with her, and as it stood, only one-third had responded. People were protective of themselves, now, and it made sense that none of them were particularly interested in chatting with a human—and a human who asked a bunch of nosy questions. Which was a shame, because, in theory, it was a really good idea.
Which is probably why she was asking about it.
“Think about it, Mama.” Sicily sat forward enthusiastically. “No one would talk to me, but we have aSheriffnow. Y’know, someone with actualauthority.If we get Sheriff Dean to help me out, we might actually get somewhere with this project. And once it’s done, we’ll have a much easier time figuring out who the strays are, and the best ways to bring them back into society!”
I felt my neck heat up. There was no way that was theonlyreason she wanted Dean involved in this, because where Dean went, Mason also went. And I was fairly sure that Sicily was sweet on Mason. As to Mason’s feelings? I was also pretty sure he returned them. And I didn’t know how to feel about any of it—my baby was just growing up way too fast and sometimes I didn’t know how to deal with it.
Still, she wasn’t wrong, and I took a deep breath, pushing my parental doubts aside.Compromise, Twila. Compromise.
“Y’know what? Alright.” I stuck out my hand, lips pursed. “I’ll ask the Sheriff if he’s got time to help you fill out the census. Honestly, it’d probably be in his best interest too.”
