AFTER AN ENTIRE DAY IN the hospital, I wasn’t sure what I would find waiting for me at home. But Ace was on the couch napping, and beside him, Gypsy was flipping through a magazine. When she looked up, there was a flash of relief in her eyes, followed by indignation.
“I wasn’t sure you’d even still be here,” I mused.
“Trust me,” she mumbled. “I considered leaving more than a few times.”
I didn’t ask her why she hadn’t. We both knew why she was here. It wasn’t because she was afraid of going to prison. She wanted to protect her sister, and as miserable as she might be here, she wouldn’t jeopardize Birdie in any way.
“Well?” She set down the magazine and stood. “What happened?”
“I’m fine,” I told her. “The fever broke, and they let me go.”
It wasn’t exactly the whole truth. I’d gone round and round with the doctors—as I usually did—but in the end, I discharged myself.
Gypsy bit her lip and held her hands together in a way that reminded me how fragile she could be. “So it was bronchitis then?”
Her eyes were soft and open, and I didn’t want to lie to her. I chose deflection, a cheap ploy. “Did you ever finish your list?”
She blinked. “What list?”
“If you could do anything with your life,” I said.
“Oh. Yes.”
“Do you have it?”
“It’s in my purse.” She didn’t look like she wanted to show me, but she would regardless.
I took a seat on the empty space of the couch. “Go get it.”
“Right now?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes, pet. Right now.”
“Glad to know you’re feeling like your old self again,” she murmured as she walked down the hall.
While she was gone, I thanked Ace and sent him home to relax. Gypsy returned a few minutes later with the piece of paper in her hand, her body rigid when she forked it over. “This is stupid, by the way,” she pointed out.
I looked at the list and couldn’t suppress the smile that tugged at my lips. Her goals were ordered as I requested. All three of them.
Become a millionaire and retire early
Travel around the world
Get a boring, normal job
I was sure she expected me to chalk it up to sarcasm, but the thing about Gypsy was that she needed those boundaries. She craved them even though she couldn’t admit it to herself. When I looked at her, I saw the broken little girl who never had a chance to have those things. She’d been taking care of herself and Birdie so long that she had no idea what it was like to let someone take care of her. It was time she finally learned.
“I enrolled you into the GED program,” I told her. “You start on Monday.”
Her face blanched. “But what about work?”
“That was just a stepping-stone. You need to focus on school now.”
“I don’t want to go to school,” she protested.
I held out my hand. “Come here, pet.”
She hesitated, though ultimately gave in, coming to stand in front of me. I handed her back the list. It should have been the end of it, but I knew what I needed to do. And also, what I wanted to do. I pulled her into my lap, and she gasped.
“You did good,” I praised her with a featherlight touch against her arm. “I like it when you do what I say.”
She swallowed. I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t. I needed to have some self-control because once I started, I wouldn’t stop.
“What are you afraid of?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she answered quietly. “I just don’t want to go.”
“You’re an intelligent girl. It’s time you put that intelligence to use.”
She looked away. “What good will a GED do me?”
“It’s a start,” I said. “And then you can take the next step, whatever that may be.”
She was quiet, and I doubted she’d accepted it that easily, but regardless, she was done arguing about it for the time being. I adjusted our bodies and narrowed the gap between us, resting her head against my shoulder. Her body was far from relaxed, but she didn’t move. Not even when I played with her hair.
Not even when I kissed her forehead.