“You want to sit down first?” he asked, noticing how impatient I was.
I suppressed my frustration and sat down in the living room. Red and Bones left the room surreptitiously, giving us a little privacy, and I knew they suspected what Devon wanted to talk to me about.
“So… about Mila?”
“What about Mila?” I asked, hating this conversation already.
“I found this little town in Maine—”
“What?” I interrupted harshly.
“What?” Devon asked, in confusion.
“Why the fuck are you trying to send Mila to Maine?” I asked. “The fucker’s dead, and there’s no threat to her life anymore. There’s no reason for her to leave town.”
“I know that,” Devon nodded. “All I suggested to her was that I try and look for an apartment for her since she gave up her old one. But she wasn’t interested.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She seemed keen to leave town still,” Devon said, with a shrug. “She told me she wants a fresh start. She wants to put all this behind her and start anew somewhere else.”
I felt my heart sink as I realized that perhaps this experience had changed her for good. She had finally had enough of this lifestyle, and she wanted a change of pace. She wanted to be as far away from my lifestyle as possible. We hadn’t spoken about the future at all since she came back to the house. She had been unusually quiet, and I had assumed she was just processing. But maybe what she had been doing was planning for her new beginning.
“She told you that?” I asked.
“I… yes,” Devon nodded. “So anyway… this town I found, it’s similar to this one except crime rates are low, and they have a close-knit community that she might enjoy.”
“Did you read some fruity brochure or something?”
“Living expenses are cheap there too,” Devon continued, as though I hadn’t spoken. “And she’ll be able to get back on her feet soon. I have a few other options that she said she’d look at.”
“And she’s ok with moving so far away?”
“She seems to be.”
I nodded and averted my gaze, unsure of how to deal with the complex blaze of emotions I was feeling at the moment. I had assumed she was just going to be moving out of the clubhouse, and I had a hard enough time of wrapping my head around that. Now that I knew she wanted to move to another state, I had no idea how to deal with that.
“Zack?”
“What?” I asked.
“If she wants to go, you need to let her go,” Devon told me. “I know how much you care about her—that much has been evident in the last few weeks—but staying here with us might not be what’s best for her.”
“I know that,” I said. “I don’t need a fucking lecture from you.”
Devon sighed. “Fine… well, the reason I’m telling you all this is because if she is moving, I’d like to go with her. Just for a few weeks to make sure she settles in alright.”
“Oh, fine,” I nodded dismissively.
“You’re ok with that?”
“Take as much time as you need,” I said, as I stood up and headed towards the stairs. “I’m not going to stop you from doing what you want.”
I headed upstairs and paused outside my door. I had wanted to give Mila some space, but in light of the new information I’d just received from Devon, I couldn’t bring myself to pass by Mila’s room. I knocked once and waited for her to answer.
The door opened, and Mila stood there in a white dress that made her look like some sort of ethereal angel. Her auburn hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and her perfect blue eyes were bright enough that I could almost believe she was happy.
“Can we talk for a second?” I asked.