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“I’d like that,” he said. “But Kong is cool too.” He did a half-hearted chest pound like a gorilla might, and I laughed.
“So what’s the plan?” Tess asked us.
I was enjoying being next to Jace, being acknowledged and open in front of my family. “Go home, pick up Elvis, and figure it out, I guess. I told Zac to go ahead and do whatever he’s going to do, that my attorney would figure it out.” I was amazed at how little I cared about Zac’s threats now, about what the world might see if he released the tape.
“You don’t care about the tape?” Ryan asked, looking surprised.
I sighed, happiness filling me too much to feel anything else. “I can’t control everything,” I said. “And I’m tired of trying to control what strangers think about me. I am who I am. They can deal with that.”
“Is that what you told Alison last night?” Ryan asked.
“Something like that,” I said.
“Tess, Gran,” Jace said. “Thank you so much for having us all. It was a real pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you again.”
I beamed at my polite and handsome boyfriend. I hoped to bring him back with me soon.
“This has been an interesting weekend,” Gran said. “It makes my withered old heart swell to see both my girls happy. I guess my job here is done. Now I can go smoke myself silly and keel over in front of my computer.”
Tess scoffed. “You know perfectly well you’re too stubborn to go out that easily,” she said.
“Meh.” Gran lifted a shoulder and then turned to Tess. “Did you make the appointment for me to get those dentures?”
“Gran, your own teeth are fine,” Tess said, rolling her eyes.
“Get me a cane or something, at least. I’m ninety, for fuck’s sake.”
Gran had always turned to humor when a situation was difficult or too emotional, and I was happy to see that Jace and me leaving was no exception. I was struggling a little too, feeling like home had taken on a more important place in my heart, since it had been the place I’d finally figured out who I was supposed to be.
“I’m going to miss you,” I told Gran, pulling her in close and happy to feel how solid she was in my arms, despite her small size.
“I’ll miss you too, Juliet,” Gran said, and when I pulled away, she held my eyes for a long moment. “You turned out so good,” she said quietly. “I think your father would be proud of us both.”
I saw Tess press her lips together hard, stifling her emotion as tears threatened at the backs of my eyes. “I hope so,” I said.
Tess stepped forward and hugged me tight, and I felt something new and sweet between us, too. Maybe we could be the sisters I’d always wished we were. I knew it would take some more work, but I’d felt things shift this weekend.
I released Tess and turned to say goodbye to Ryan, intending to shake his hand or something, but deciding he was basically family now. “Thanks for everything,” I told him, opening my arms for a hug.
“Thank you,” he said, and he squeezed me and then let go with a glance at Jace.
Finally, we made our way down to the car and before long we were back in the air, heading home. We would have dinner at Jace’s mom’s place, where we’d pick up Elvis, and then it would finally be time to go home.
Jace sat next to me this time, Jack and Christian across the aisle. Jace read a magazine, and I was so happy just to be close to him, able to rest my head on his shoulder.
I let my mind run through the ways our lives might change once we touched down in Los Angeles, a tiny fragment of fear making me worry maybe we couldn’t survive the pressures of the photographers, the fans. And if I was getting new security, as Jace had said, where would he live? “Jace,” I said after a couple hours of flying. “What will happen when we get home?”
“Dinner,” he said. “We talked about that.”
“No. I mean after that. If the new security team to replace you and Chad will be at the house …”
“Where will I go? Is that what you’re asking?”
I nodded, trying to imagine saying goodbye to Jace at the end of this long day, going back to my own house alone. I didn’t like the idea. “Will you stay with me?”
He held my eyes a long moment, his mind working behind those dark brows. “I guess I’ll have to,” he said. “Since I was living there. At least until I can get an apartment.” He frowned. “Is that okay? I know it’s an imposition. And whoever they put in house will need the room.”
“But maybe I don’t need anyone in the house now,” I said. “Zac’s threats are totally powerless at this point. And I have you,” I said. “So maybe I don’t need a guard inside the house all the time.”
