Page 56 of Always

“You do?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t run a billion-dollar company if I’m not mentally healthy.”

She lets out a short laugh. “When you put it that way, it makes all sorts of sense.”

“When I put itthatway? What other way is there to put it?”

“No other way,” she says. “Absolutely no other way. You’re right.”

“As usual.” I smirk, knowing full well she can’t see me through the phone.

And knowing full well that she knows I’m smirking.

“Did your session help you figure things out?” I ask.

“It helped a lot, actually. I can’t say I have all the answers, but at least now I’m asking the right questions.”

“Good. That’s good, Skye. I’m proud of you.”

“I’m flying back to Boston tonight,” she says.

Surprise hitsmethis time. Why would she return so soon? Isn’t she in Kansas to try to figure stuff out?

“Why?” I ask, more harshly than I mean to.

“I need a little distance from my parents. I found something out that has me disturbed.”

Curiosity spikes through me. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Not over the phone, but I can tell you that I think it has something to do with why I am the way I am.”

“Something related to the cornfield?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be home in a few days. We can talk then. Or whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay.”

“Goodbye, Skye.”

“Bye, Braden.”

I gathered all my willpower not to pester her to tell me what she found out. I certainly could have, given how she pesters meabout my childhood, my mother, and mostly about my past with Addison.

But I made a promise to her and to myself.

I told her she could tell me whenever she was ready.

I don’t break promises.

I’m giving her time to work stuff out, to be ready to talk about certain things.

A luxury she never afforded me.

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