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Jade hummed. “And G Singh? Is that your spy account?”
“One of them,” I said.
“One of?” she asked.
“Yeah. I have a few.”
“Wow,” she replied. “Multiple spies.”
“For a good cause. One of them is even an admin.”
“You’re an admin?” Her eyes went wide. “And you never deleted anything?”
“People need to wear their shame. And Hugh’s hilarious.” I laughed.
“So, you saw everything! What was your favorite moment?”
“Him selling the slightly used casket, for sure.”
“That one was so good. My personal favorite was when he wanted to eat the electrified squirrel.”
I shook my head. “This town is so fucking ridiculous.”
“But you love it,” she said, leaning in. She was smiling, but it faded ever so slightly.
Jade was worried I’d deny it.
“I do,” I said. “I’ve seen it all and nowhere else is like it is here.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “Fuck. I need to stop crying.”
“You can show me it all, you know.” I reached out and wiped her cheeks for her. “The sadness. The anger. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Stop,” she said, her voice thicker. “You can’t make me cry twice today. You just can’t.”
“Don’t make me try—ow!” I rubbed my chest where she’d hit me. “You’re so violent.”
“You pushed it.” She tried to blink her tears away. “I’m just so happy you’re staying.”
“Me too.”
“So, does this mean I get to be like a stepmother to Agnes and Beatrice?”
I blinked. Her stepping in felt so natural that I’d not given it any thought.
“Uh, yeah. I guess so. I’m sure they’d be happy with it.”
“Good.” She took a sip of coffee. “Number one, I will be teaching them buggy riding.”
“Oh, no.”
“And I want to teach them the art of trolling people. The town won’t know what hit them.”
“They’re already good at that, but I’m sure they’ll do even better under you.”
“Exactly.” Jade flipped her hair over her shoulder before her smile faded. “And, most importantly, we should visit San Francisco.”
“W-wait, really?”