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She’s quiet a moment. “And he wants you to come work there, too.”
“There’s a job for you, too. We thought of you. He’s willing to give his apartment to us, and his mom will even watch Rosie!”
“That—that’s a lot.”
“I love him, Lila.”
“Are you sure?”
“Totally sure.”
She blows out a breath into the phone. “Well, we weren’t going to tell you, in case you got your hopes up.”
I go still. “Hopes up for what? Who is ‘we’?”
“Me and Ensley. She called her old boss, the one from Alabama.”
“What for?”
“They’re trying to get me an entry-level position at the bank. If I get it, I can afford day care for Rosie. I won’t need your money or your babysitting. I’ll be on my own two feet.”
“When did you do that?”
“The day of the hurricane. I saw it. I saw what he was to you. I didn’t believe it before. But I did then.”
“Lila—I’m not trying to cut you out.”
“I know. I know you’re not. But I have to find a way to make it on my own. It’s time, Tillie. It’s time we all grew up.”
Tears threaten. “I don’t want to. I thought we’d always be together.”
“We will. Just not in the same house. I’m okay with it. I had to live without you before, remember? When I moved in with Dodge? We can do this. We can have the magic, all of us. You with Gabe. Ensley with Drew. And me with Rosie. None of us will ever be alone.”
“When will you find out?”
“Any day now. So do it, Tillie. Get your work permit. Go to the island. Just make sure you always have a space for us to visit.”
“I will.”
The door to the bar slams open. Badger stands there, drying his hands on a towel. “Get in here before I drag you back.”
“Gotta go,” I whisper to Lila, and end the call. Then I laugh and stand on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re a real Georgia peach, Badger.”
“Shut up and get to work.”
His roughness doesn’t bother me at all. I dash behind the bar, and nobody, not the sad regulars or the obnoxious drunks or the dirty old men, can bring me down.
By the time the days get short and the shadows grow long, I won’t be putting up with them here in Badger’s bar any longer.
I’ll be in paradise.
With Gabe.
I have to believe it.
I know what his mother’s candle would say.
Fuck doubt.
