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“Of course.” I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water, with Ruby following. “But I want her to do it because it’s what makes her happy, not because she thinks she should, or because we’d like her to.”
Ruby cocked her head as though thinking over my statement. “I see where you’re coming from,” she said. “But think about it from her point of view. She’s used to people leaving, or not wanting her. First, her dad went to prison, then her mum left, and wasn’t she dumped only a few months ago? I mean, maybe she just wanted you to say it’d be nice to have her around. She’s probably not used to feeling like people want her in their lives.” She reached for what was left of Hannah’s glass of wine, and I swatted her hand away. “Don’t you think?”
Huh. Ruby’s words made sense. For someone who was accustomed to being left, Hannah had probably seen my refusal to ask her to stay as another form of rejection. Yet again, I’d unwittingly hurt her.
“When did you get so wise, Rubes?”
She grinned. “So, are you going to fix it?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “Yes, I am.”
9
HANNAH
I was moping in bed when my phone buzzed with a call from London. I considered not answering, but that would only make her worry, and a worried London was a distracted London. She was dangerous enough to her own health without any assistance.
I picked up. “Hey, London.”
“Hi, Hannah-Banana. Did I wake you?”
“No, you’re fine.”
“Good. Are you okay?” She sounded uncharacteristically hesitant.
“I’m fine.” I would be. I’d overreacted last night. Again. I’d wanted Warren to be as over the moon by the job offer as I had been, and his apparent ambivalence had hit me hard. I could see in hindsight that he’d been trying to approach it responsibly, but damn it, sometimes a girl just needed to know she was wanted.
“Cool, cool. So, are you interested in coming on a hike with me today?”
I laughed. “Who are you and what have you done with my friend?”
While London was an animal person, she was generally not interested in the outdoors unless she was perched astride a horse.
“Hey,” she protested. “It’s a sunny day, and we’ll be heading into winter in a few weeks, so I thought it’d be nice to get out and make the most of it, but if you’d rather not, that’s fine.”
“I’m teasing,” I said. “I’m up for a hike.” It’d be a good way to distract myself from Warren, and the fact I probably owed him an explanation for being so tense last night. “When and where?”
“How about at the trail that begins behind Destiny Fibers in an hour?”
“Perfect. See you then.”
I hung up and dragged myself out of bed, knowing I had a bit to do before meeting London. I ate breakfast, changed, finished a few chores, and rode my Ducati to the meet up point. As expected, London hadn’t arrived yet. As well as being accident prone, she also seemed incapable of being on time. I found her disorganized nature endearing, but not everyone did.
She pulled up ten minutes late and spilled out of her car, smearing sunscreen onto her face. She took a few steps toward me, then noticed her shoelaces were untied and bent to fix them.
“Sorry, one of the dogs was having a temper tantrum, and I had to deal with him before I left. Ready to go?” she asked.
“No problem.” I pointed at a smear of white on her nose. “You’ve got a little….”
She rubbed the lotion in. “Thanks.”
“So, which trail are we taking?” I asked. I hadn’t done as much exploring of the local trails as I’d have liked, but I figured I’d have plenty of time to do that now that I planned to stay long term.
“This one.” London gestured toward a well-maintained trail that disappeared into the trees. “It splits halfway, part of it leading to the waterfall and the other to the tarn. I thought we could go to Destiny Falls today. Does that work for you?”
“Sure.” We started walking. I went first, a water bottle in one hand, scouting for anything that might pose a threat to London’s terrible coordination. She tripped and stumbled a few times, but didn’t seem bothered by it. I imagined she was used to bumping her way through life at this point.
“Have you heard the old story about Destiny Falls?” London asked from behind me.
