AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t you like this place, Garrett?” he asks gently. “I think it looks perfect for Winnie. Feels like her in here, don’t you think?”
Garrett nods quickly. “It does! This is perfect.”
“Then?”
“I thought you wouldn’t want us to visit. I thought you were moving on. But you have this room already picked out for us and this closet—” She slips into sobs again, and I stroke her soft hair.
“Iammoving on, but that doesn’t have to mean I’m leaving you guys behind. I won’t be there when you come home every day after school, but I’m only a phone call away. Speaking of…” I reach into my bag. “I got something for you.”
Case helped with this part, too. He thought maybe if Garrett had a way to reach me anytime, even when I’m on the road, that might give her some security.
I hold out a small prepaid phone. “I programmed my number, Case’s number, Maria’s number, Jesse’s number, and Dad’s number. You can reach me anytime, and no matter where I am, I will do my best to answer or call back as soon as I can.”
Garrett holds the phone in her small hand, staring at it in wonder.
“It’s not a smartphone,” I warn her. “No internet. So don’t be getting any ideas in that giant brain of yours. But it will allow you to reach any of us just in case.”
“I can call Case?” she asks, her voice hushed.
Holding back my exasperated grin, I nod. “Anytime, apparently. Though he told me to tell you he prefers texting.”
Her fingers are already rapidly typing across the keys, and I exchange looks with Jesse again, who snorts. “I see we’ve been replaced.”
A moment later, all our pockets buzz. Garrett’s started a family chat. Plus Case.
They’re already chatting away. Her fingers are flying over the keys again, but she pauses at the doorway and looks up at me.
“This is my room when I come and stay?”
“Would you like that?”
“Yes. Can we still have sleepovers? When you’re in town, I mean.”
“Every weekend I’m around, if you want.”
She throws her arms around me, squeezing tightly. “I want.”
A moment later, she wanders off to the front porch, and Jesse lingers, clearly wanting to say something.
“I know you’re probably too old for sleepovers, but you’re welcome anytime. If you need a break or want to come for dinner or whatever.”
“Cool,” he says casually, but I can see the relief in his eyes. He might not show his feelings the same way as Garrett, but he feels it, too. He’s grown up as quickly as I have in some ways, but mercifully, he’s still a kid in others.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
I blink. “What on earth for?”
He smirks, self-deprecating. “Well, for lots of things, probably, but this time, it’s for talking to Dad without telling you first.”
I’d sort of forgotten he’d been the impetus for my dad taking the day shift job. I’d meant to ask him how it came about but then got preoccupied.
“You don’t have to apologize for that.”
“I’m not sorry I spoke up, but I’m sorry for how it hurt you. I—” He pauses, collecting himself. “I wanted Dad to take responsibility, and I wanted you to be able to compete. I knew—weallknew you wouldn’t leave us, no matter how much you deserved the chance—”
I open my mouth to argue. Not that he’s wrong, but I don’t want him to think it’s his fault.
“Shut your mouth, Winnie. I heard you when that reporter asked you about Vegas. It never occurred to you to leave us for the circuit. Garrett and I know that, despite her little freak-out a little bit ago. We know you aren’t like Mom. You don’t have to prove it anymore. No matter what happens with Dad and his new job, we know you love us more than anything else. And we love you, too.”
