Page 148 of Always Us

“It’s okay.” She says it softly. “They didn’t like each other.”

“Lilly, why don’t we talk about this at home?” my dad says.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she says.

I turn back and see her looking down at her shoes. Jade’s holding her hand.

The car goes silent again. It’s awkward, but luckily, a few minutes later we’re at the house. As Jade helps Lilly out of the car, my dad comes up to me, lowering his voice. “Go ahead and get settled. I need to talk to her.”

“Yeah. We’re fine. Take all the time you need.”

I get our luggage from the car while he takes Lilly inside. Jade and I go up to my room.

“Did he already tell Lilly about the divorce?” Jade asks.

“I don’t think so. I think she just guessed.” I set the suitcase on the floor by the closet. “I think Katherine might’ve already moved out.”

“And she didn’t say goodbye to Lilly?”

“It doesn’t sound like it.”

“How could Katherine just leave like that without even telling Lilly goodbye? And she does this at Christmas? How could she do that?”

“It’s just the way she is. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Her parents are like that, so it’s how she was raised.” I open the suitcase and start hanging stuff up in the closet.

“Garret?”

“Yeah?” I turn around and see Jade sitting on the bed.

“Do you think Lilly could stay with us this summer?”

“Maybe. We’d have to ask my dad.” I go and sit next to her. “Do you want her to stay for a couple weeks, or what?”

“She could stay as long as she wants. Maybe even the whole summer. Your dad works all the time and I don’t want Lilly to be all alone in this big house.”

I smile and hug her into my side. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

“For a while.” She puts her head on my shoulder. “I feel really bad for her, Garret. She’s always alone and she gets ignored and then she tries to pretend everything’s okay. It sounds like me growing up. But it shouldn’t be like that for her. And she shouldn’t have to spend the summer all by herself in her room.”

“I don’t know if my dad would agree to the entire summer, but I’m sure he’d let her stay with us for a few weeks.”

She nods.

“Hey.” I lift her face off my shoulder so I can kiss her. “I love you. And I love that you care about Lilly so much.” I stand up and pull her up from the bed. “Let’s go downstairs and watch TV. I think my dad will be talking to Lilly for a while.”

Jade and I go in the game room and watch the last half of a movie that’s playing. An hour later my dad comes and finds us and we follow him to his office.

“How did Lilly take the news?” I ask him.

“She knew it was coming, but she acted like it didn’t bother her. I told her it’s okay to be upset or cry but she still didn’t react. Katherine has forced Lilly to hide her emotions for so long that it’ll take a while for her to open up. Maybe you two could help with that. She opens up to you, Garret, more than anyone else.”

“I know. I’ll talk to her. What did she say when you told her you got custody?”

“That’s the only time she showed any emotion.” My dad smiles. “She was happy. She hugged me, then asked if we could move to California and live next door to the two of you.”

“Speaking of that.” Jade glances at me. “Do you think Lilly could come stay with us this summer? Just for a few weeks?”

My dad nods. “I think that’s a good idea. She would love that.”

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