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Tabitha takes a deep breath and lets it out, long and slow.
I almost know it before she says it.
That something is wrong. Reid is pushing thisfriendsnarrative because of a bigger reason.
But in the end, when she finally does speak again, nothing can prepare me for what she says.
chapter twenty
Reid
I barely hear the knock over the sound of the rain.
Setting my cup of tea and crossword on the coffee table, I pat Sydney’s head where it’s resting on my thigh before I push up off the couch and head to the front door. It’s not a huge stretch for me to guess who might be there when I open it, but I’m shocked to find a completely drenched Busy when I do.
“Are you okay?” I ask, stepping back and letting her inside just as a flash of light streaks through the sky. A few seconds later the boom of thunder echoes around us, shaking the walls of my cabin.
“This was just from my sprint from my car to your door,” she tells me. “I haveneverseen rain like that before.”
“Global warming,” I say, heading for the bathroom to grab a towel then returning to the living room to hand it to her.
She quickly dabs at her hair and dries off her face and arms.
I glance at my watch. “Are you just getting off work? It’s almost ten.”
Busy shakes her head. “No, I…finished work at six. I’ve just been driving around, thinking.”
“Where’s Junie?”
“At my mom’s. She’s spending the night.”
My shoulders droop in relief, and I’m surprised by the slice of fear I felt, wondering where she was.
“Are you… I mean, you don’t seem okay.”
“Because I’m not,” she replies.
The tension in my neck and back returns, worry coursing through me.
“Your mom came to the bookstore today.” Her eyes, normally bright and filled with life, seem sad in a way I haven’t seen before.
And that’s when I know. My mother overstepped, finally shared information that wasn’t hers to share.
“She told you.”
“About your plan to be alone for the rest of your life because you’re sick? Yes, she told me.”
Whatever sadness was there a second ago is gone, and in its place is a woman filled with fire.
“And I have to say, I agree with her.”
I scoff. “Well it doesn’t really matter who agrees with who when the decision is up to me.”
“It might be up to you, but that doesn’t mean the people who love you can’t weigh in.”
It’s hard to miss the fact that she used the word love, but I brush it aside. I know she just means it in the ‘I care for you’ kind of way, and it would be good for me not to confuse the two.
“Trust me, the people who love me have weighed in plenty.”
