AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I see what the purpose does to her.
Gives her something more than just Ivy and me to live for.
After being with Dad for so long, she needed to fill the void he left in his absence.
She’s made great friends and is happy.
Just as I suspected, I find her in the rotunda.
She’s kneeling on the floor, gloves on, looking at her plants. With her hands pressed together at a stem, she almost looks like she’s praying to them.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“I’m afraid this one has rust.”
“What does that mean?”
“It might spread and harm the rest.”
I sit beside her, staring at the thing, not sure what I’m looking at. “What will you do?”
“I’ll try to separate it.” She fusses with the stem. “See if I can heal it on my own.”
“And if you can’t? What if what infects it . . . can’t go away?”
Her hands stop, and she turns to look at me. The blues of her eyes meet mine. “Why are you here, Trent? It’s late.”
“Can’t I just be here to see my mother?”
She raises her brow.
She knows me too well.
“Is this about the girl? I saw her here. Apparently, you want her to clean toilets.”
Margret. The blabbermouth.
“It’s not about her,” I lie.
She nods. But I know she doesn’t believe me.
She goes back to her plant. “We can remove the plant. Distance it. Allow it time to heal on its own.”
“And if the time away doesn’t help?”
She sighs. “Then there is no helping the plant . . .”
“And then what happens?”
“It dies alone.”
Chapter
Thirty-Three
PAYTON
I’m being a baby, but I’ve never left a place faster than I left Trent’s.
