Page 25
We had always functioned best when given something beyond ourselves to focus on. Literature, assignments, our friends’ problems, and any argument neither of us was personally responsible for creating. The fractures began whenever the subject became us.
A castle scavenger hunt couldn’t be worse than Victorian poetry.
Probably.
“What about our parents?” I asked.
“Both sets of parents are included in the family events,” Bliss said. “My dad and brothers arrive Thursday morning. Cade’s parents will already be there. Both of your parents arrive Thursday afternoon.”
My fingers tightened around the stem of the glass before I deliberately loosened them.
“Does Ryan know?”
“About yours being there?”
“Yes.”
“Cade was telling him today.”
“And Ryan agreed to let me handle it?”
Bliss’s eyes widened slightly. “How did you know?”
“Because that’s what I asked Cade to ensure, even though Ryan would probably demand the same thing.”
“He said he wouldn’t interfere unless your father approached him directly.”
“That’s fair.”
Aura’s gaze sharpened. “Do you want us nearby?”
“No. I can handle Lance.”
Neither woman spoke.
“Lance doesn’t control my money, home, career, medical care, or relationship with my mother. He has opinions. I have a remarkable new ability to stop listening.”
Aura smiled. “Tell me you’ve hung up on him.”
“Twice.”
Bliss gasped. “What did he do?”
“The first time, he called back and asked whether the connection dropped. I told him no.”
Aura placed her champagne against her chest. “Beautiful.”
“The second time, he made it through four sentences before realizing I had already ended the call.”
“What did your mom say?” Bliss asked.
“She was the one who told me he was talking into nothing. She laughed so hard she had to sit down.”
The surprise on their faces made me laugh too.
Crystal had changed in ways nobody outside our relationship fully understood yet. She still loved Lance. She had no intention of leaving him, and I had stopped treating that decision as proof that she couldn’t love me too. Therapy taught both of us that supporting me didn’t require her to adopt every boundary I chose for myself.
It required her to stop supporting Lance when he crossed them.
