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I swallow past the lump in my throat, biting down on the inside of my cheek.
“You know, my own abilities manifested when I was a child, but only as an intuitive. The visions didn’t come until after I met your dad,” she continues, a knowing gleam in her eye. “The more time I spent with him, the stronger they got. So the fact that you’re receiving visions now could mean your mate’s nearby.” She shrugs, twisting around to reach for her mug of tea again. “Food for thought.”
“You said you didn’t know whether Madd was my mate,” I point out, unable to hide the bitterness dripping from my tone.
If she knew, why would she have kept us apart all these years? Just to torture us both?
“I don’t,” she admits, sipping her tea. “Honestly, hon. It could be anyone, only fate knows. But I’ve learned that things are rarely coincidental. And if you pay attention to your visions, of when they happen and their frequency, sometimes you can learn more from them than the visions themselves.”
I flop back against the cushions with a huff, folding my arms and staring out at the trees again as I contemplate my mother’s cryptic advice.
“Well now that the cat’s out of the bag, have you had any other visions about me that you wanna share?” I grumble.
Mom’s quiet for a long moment, and I swing my gaze back to her in question, noting the strange way she’s looking at me and the deep crease forming between her brows.
“What is it?” I ask.
Her lips part like there’s something on the tip of her tongue that she wants to say, but then she snaps her mouth closed again, shaking her head. “Nothing. I trust fate, and you should, too. Everything happens as it’s meant to.” She reaches out for my hand, giving it a squeeze. “I love you, Sloane.”
“Love you too,” I murmur, squeezing her hand back.
She tips her head toward the house, a faint smile coming to her lips. “Can I talk you into staying for breakfast?”
I heave a sigh, pushing up from the sectional. “Not today. I’ve gotta get over to the IT hub to connect with Lo about an assignment she has for me.”
I can tell she’s disappointed, but she nods in affirmation, accepting my decision. “I’m glad you’re reconnecting with your old friends and that you’ve found a place with the squad,” she says thoughtfully. “But don’t forget that you have a place here, too. You can always come home.”
My heart squeezes painfully, that lump forming in my throat again. “I know,” I rasp, edging toward the door. I pause before opening it, looking back at her once more. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Anytime,” she replies breezily, lifting her mug of tea to her lips again.
I make eye contact with my father through the sliding glass door, and rather than going back in there, I retreat a step, contemplating a new escape plan to avoid confronting him. Then I turn around, tossing a sheepish wave to my mom as I slink away around the packhouse, taking the long way back to my car.
19
“Since when are those two friends?” I grumble, glaring over at Sloane and Roxy sitting together at a table across the dining hall at the complex, chumming it up like they’re old pals.
“Beats me,” Tristan shrugs, pushing pasta around his plate with his fork. “My sister barely talks to me these days.”
Roxy says something and the two of them start laughing, Sloane throwing her head back and clutching a hand to her chest like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard.
I frown. “What do they even have in common to talk about?”
Tris shoots me a side-eyed glance. “Besides you?” He chuckles softly, shaking his head. “I dunno, maybe they both like Taylor Swift music or something.”
I wrinkle my nose, grimacing. “Sloane doesn’t listen to Taylor Swift.”
“You sure about that?”
I tear my gaze from the girls to turn my head toward Tristan, his brow arched in question.
“No,” I admit. “I mean, she didn’t used to. People don’t changethatmuch.”
“Eh, you’d be surprised,” he mutters, stabbing his fork into a noodle and bringing it up to his mouth.
I narrow my eyes on Tristan suspiciously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He takes entirely too long to chew one fucking noodle, swallowing it down and licking the sauce from his lips before answering me. “Nothing, man. I’m just saying, people change. You two used to be all about each other, but you both moved on. You had Kristen, then Roxy, Sloane had Garrett…”
