Page 198 of Branded
Oh, God. I was holding it together. Gushy from the not-gushy Pru might crack the layers of concrete I was busy slathering on. “Pru, honey?—”
“I never thought I could be this happy,” my friend said. “But you and Hazel straightened my shit out so that I could see Marcel for what he was to me, and you…” Pru got a little choked up. “I know I’ve thanked you too many times already?—”
“So just stop already,” I whispered, my throat tight.
“But I’m not going to forget what you did for me then, and I won’t forget it now or ever. So, you’re going to shut up and let me tell you that I love you and that I really, really want you to find your own happy.”
I inhaled.
“And just saying, I think Raph could make a woman happy. Really happy,” she added with a curve of her lips. “Like forever happy.”
A snake coiled in my belly, a demon poised at the door?—
“Pru,” I warned.
“And just saying—and Hazel agrees—you could make him happy back.”
I swallowed hard. “Pru.”
My friend just smiled.
So, I gave her the rest, reaching across the table and gripping my friend’s fingers. “I’m going to try.”
“Good.” Pru squeezed my hand back. “Because I know you won’t just try, you’ll do.”
“Okay, Yoda.”
A twitch of lips, a flash of white teeth. “Damn right.” She pushed to her feet, headed for a cupboard. “Now, because you’re carrying my babies and because Marcel and I both pay attention, you’ll need to do us a favor and”—she opened a cupboard—“help us eat all of the Oreos.”
I started laughing when I saw the entire cabinet was full of cookies, all double-stuffed.
“If you have milk,” I teased, “then I think I can take care of at least half of those.”
Pru laughed and went to retrieve the milk and two glasses, my friend’s laughter filling a place deep in my belly.
But it didn’t fill the basement.
Didn’t cement the halls and stalls and the stairway.
Didn’t add another layer of protection to make sure the demons didn’t escape.
No matter how many cookies I ate, no matter how much milk I drank, no matter how many times I laughed with my friends, it was always there.
Burning through me.
Just like that card from Marin was burning a hole in my pocket.
Twenty-Three
Raph
I strolled up the front walk of Pru and Marcel’s place, knocking lightly on the door.
Not wanting to disturb because they had a new kid to get settled in their house.
Mila Rose.
A pretty name.
