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“How do you know?”
“He couldn’t keep his eyes off you,” Laney said as they moved to their respective car doors and opened them.
I rolled my eyes, wondering if that was the truth. “Thanks for making this a wonderful birthday,” I said, hating that they had to go. “Be careful driving home.”
“You be careful around here,” Holly said sadly as her eyes moved over the manor one last time.
I held back the tears stinging my eyes until they’d waved goodbye, pulled down the driveway, and disappeared out of sight.
Without giving the pool area another look, I untied my balloons from the bench and carried them down to the apartment. My mother was cooking chicken on the stovetop when I entered.
“Did you have fun?” she asked without turning around.
“I had no idea they were coming. But I think I really needed to see them.”
“They’re good friends,” she said.
They were, and the way they always had my back just proved it. “The best.”
“Did you have fun with the boys?” she asked, still not facing me.
I swallowed hard, worried that she’d seen more than I thought she had. “Yeah, they’re nice.”
“I warned you about them,” she said.
“Mom, I don’t need a lecture. They’re nice to me. I’d like to base my opinion on that and not what you think of them.”
She spun around, her eyes drifting over my clothes. “Why are you soaked?”
I glanced down at my wet clothes. “Seren pushed me in the pool.”
Her eyes clouded with disappointment. “I’ve been here for many years. You’ve been here for less than a month. I’d like to think I have a better grasp on this family than you do.”
“You’re right. I should value your opinion.”
“Thank you.”
“But if I want to hang around with people who I have something in common with, then I’m going to do it.”
“What could you possibly have in common with those boys?”
“Well, for one, we all lost a father.”
Her shoulders dropped as if she hadn’t realized that commonality until now.
“I’ll be eighteen in three days. You’ve got to give me more credit. I’m smart and won’t let anyone hurt me.” I nearly choked on my own words, but said them for her benefit, nonetheless.
“I don’t have to like it,” she said.
“Me being eighteen or me being friends with the Graysons?”
“Neither.”
I walked over and wrapped my arms around her. She was frailer than I remembered. “Thanks for caring about me.”
“More than anything in this world.”
I knew she meant that. I was all she had left. But she had been wrong about Seren. And I think I’d been wrong too.
