Page 138 of Lilly

"If you could, then yes, I could really use some help. I have no idea how any of that works. And I don't know what to do with his stuff. His apartment. His car." He sighs.

"If you want me to take care of all that, I will."

Reed looks at my dad. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course. Whatever you need."

"Thank you. Seriously, I was having a meltdown over here trying to figure out what to do. My uncle's my only family and he'll have enough to deal with with my mom. He doesn't have time to deal with this too."

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out."

I'm standing next to the couch watching this, so grateful to my dad for offering to help. He always thinks he's not the greatest dad but he totally is, even to kids that aren't his, like Conner and Reed. He's being very dad-like right now, taking charge and stepping in to do what needs to be done. It makes me smile. I love my dad.

Reed calls his uncle, then packs a bag so he can stay there tonight. After all that's happened, he shouldn't be alone, and staying in the apartment where his dad was shot would be kind of creepy.

My dad and I follow Reed to his uncle's house, then my dad takes Reed's uncle aside. I don't know what they talked about, but afterward Reed's uncle seemed grateful for whatever my dad said or did or offered to do.

Reed's uncle tells Reed he can stay there until school starts. I was hoping Reed could stay with us, but then decided it'd be too awkward. My dad would be constantly checking on us, making me keep my door open to make sure Reed and I weren't doing anything.

So it's better if Reed stays with his uncle. Time with his family will be good for him, and school isn't that far away. It won't be long before we're together again. And now, there's no end date to our relationship. No deadline. Reed won't be part of that group and neither will I.

But my dad is still part of it. I'm trying to accept that but it's been hard. I don't want to think of my dad that way, as someone who would do those things. So for now, I'm pushing it out of my mind, pretending the organization doesn't exist. My dad may belong to that group, but he's not one of them. He's not like that. That's all I'll let myself believe.

Chapter Thirty

A Month Later

Lilly

"It seems like we just did this," Garret says as he sets some boxes on the floor of my dorm room.

Jade laughs. "Is time going that fast for you? It's been an entire year since we moved her into the dorms."

"Then I guess time is flying by because I feel like I did this just a few months ago."

"You moved me out a few months ago," I say. "Maybe that's what you're thinking."

"No. I was thinking about when we moved you in." He slings his arm over my shoulder. "Back when you were a scared little freshman, begging us to bring you back home." He laughs.

"I did not beg you to take me home. And I wasn't scared." I smile. "Okay, maybe a little, but that's normal."

"And she's fine now." My dad walks in with a big plastic bin that holds my art supplies. He sets it down by my desk. "It's hard to believe she's a sophomore. Before we know it she'll be graduating."

"And then it'll be time for this one to go to college," Garret says, grabbing Abi and tickling her.

She giggles. "Dad, I'm not ready for college."

"Good," he says, kissing her cheek. "Because I'm not ready for you to go."

Miles and Ethan are running around my room and then Ethan suddenly takes off out the door.

"Ethan, wait," Jade says.

He's already gone. She goes to follow him but then stops.

"I got him," Reed says, walking in holding Ethan. He loves my nieces and nephews. "You can't be running off like that," he tells Ethan, "especially around here with all these college girls."

I laugh. "You think they'll ask him out?"

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