Page 59 of All Along The Watchtower

I wanted the same for Peyton, and I was thrilled she’d made a friend, even if I had no idea who Madison actually was. I’d have to rectify that.

Peyton sighed dramatically. “Love ishard.”

I bit back a smile, remembering how everything had felt like life or death at that age. “That it is, kiddo.”

“I mean, look at you and Bree. You obviously still like each other, but you’re both being stupid about it.”

I nearly dropped the pot I was filling with water. “We’re not—that’s different.”

“Uh-huh.” She gave me a look that was pure teenager. “Sure it is.”

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of parenthood…

Deliberately, I turned my back and finished filling the pot with water, setting it on the stove to boil. “Did anythingelsehappen today?”

“Well, not at school, but at the Brewhouse everybody was talking about how that Galef's guy’s apartment was broken into.”

“Really? I hadn’t heard that yet.” Of course. I hadn’t actually stopped anywhere in town today.

“Bonita said she heard it from her cousin Danica, who’s dating Chris Shelton, who’s apparently a police officer in town.”

My lips twitched at her recitation of sources. “We’ll turn you into a small-town girl yet.”

Peyton grinned again. “The gossip is kinda fun, when you’re not the topic of it.”

“Fair enough.” Deciding this was as good an opening as I was going to get, I sobered. “Speaking of Galef, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

For once, she didn’t stiffen up at my tone, and I called that progress. Taking the time to dump the meatballs and sauce into another pan, I set them to warm on low heat and went to join herat the counter. “How are you feeling about all this stuff? Are you worried?”

“I mean, maybe a little, because everybody’s wigged about it. But whatever’s going on, it’s got nothing to do with me, so not really?” She didn’t sound entirely sure.

“Would you like to try some self-defense training? There’s a class down at the community center.”

“Self-defense training?”

“It’s a handy thing for anybody to have. But I won’t push you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I just want to do whatever you need to feel safe. And maybe a little more than that, to make me feel like you’re safe.”

Peyton’s lips tipped into a frown. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing bad. Just that I don’t want you going anywhere alone while all this is going on. As you say, it’s got nothing to do with you, but I wouldn’t want you to accidentally stumble into something by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So we’re gonna stick with pick up and drop off from school and from anywhere else you need to go. If I or Grandma Flo or Mimi can’t do it, one of my other friends will. Okay?”

“Okay. I can live with that.”

“Did you want to try the class?”

“Can I think about it?”

“Sure.” With all the sexism and misogyny women and girls faced, I wanted her to be able to defend herself. But that was a longer term goal. A few self-defense classes were no substitute for consistent training. Maybe I could get her into some form of martial art. I’d have to check to see what was available.

“You wanna go dump your bag and do whatever you need to do while I finish putting dinner together?”

“Can we have garlic bread?”

“I don’t think we have any bread but hamburger buns.”

“So? We’ve got butter and garlic powder, don’t we?”

“Equal opportunity bread lover. I respect that. I’ll make some garlic toast.”

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