“Leave them. I’ll send Avery up to fetch them.” There was a beat, then she added, “That really is what she’s here for, Talia. And we pay her well for her service. You don’t have to be afraid to ask her for help.”
I didn’t quite know what to say to that, or to the fact that my grandma had apparently thought she needed to explain herself to me. So I didn’t say anything.
It took what felt like a thousand years for us to reach the ground floor, and when we hit the flat surface, we both let out twin sighs of relief.
She helped me hobble the rest of the way to my room and deposited me on the bed. As I crawled up the mattress on shaky arms and legs, she crossed to the dresser and collected a few pills. Then she grabbed the glass of water from the nightstand and handed it all to me.
“It’s a little early, but I think you’ll be all right to take these.” She watched me until I swallowed them, then took the glass back and set it down. “I’ll have Avery bring down the crutches. And if there are any other pictures you want to look at, let her know. She’ll get them for you.”
There was a mildly chastising tone to my grandmother’s voice, and she glanced at me once more with an assessing gaze before she turned and left.
I lay propped up on the bed, staring after her and wondering what to do with that small, reluctant show of kindness.
But I couldn’t decide. So I just tucked it away in my heart for safekeeping.
Chapter 5
LEAH: Are you fucking serious? Adena????
ME: Please don’t make me regret telling you this.
LEAH: You think Adena tried to kill you??!?!
ME: You’re making me regret it.
LEAH: WTF???
ME: I don’t know. The guys think somebody fucked with my car. That the brakes didn’t fail by accident. I don’t know who else hates me as much as she does.
LEAH: Yeah… I mean, at one point, I would’ve said the Princes, but…
ME: It wasn’t them.
LEAH: And you’re sure about that?
Yes. I was.
I had offered up my trust to the Princes, and they had offered theirs back. The peace between us might still be tentative and new, but I had chosen to believe in it. The risk of trust was always the possibility of getting hurt, but after everything the four boys and I had gone through, that risk felt was beginning to feel worth it.
ME: 100%
LEAH: Okay. Damn. Adena really is a fucking psycho. Do you think she knew that could kill you??
ME: I dunno. We don’t even know if it was her. We only have a bunch of hunches and no actual evidence.
LEAH: Um, exhibit A. She’s a fucking psycho.
ME: Yeah.
LEAH: You doing okay?
ME: Yeah.
LEAH: …really?
ME: Yeah. Just bored. And sore.
LEAH: Okay… if you say so.