“I love my in-laws, but I miss my sister,” Lisa said.

The road went a little watery in front of her and she had to take a deep breath. Ever since that day she’d broken down, it had been a fight to stay in control, to get back the Lila she’d been before.

The Lila who hadn’t been happy? The one who ticked off the days like they were a checklist she needed to get through? The one who’d nearly married a man she didn’t love because he “made sense”?

Her inner voice had also gotten obnoxiously loud since that terrible day.

“I need some space. I’m sorry. I’m here. I want to spend time with you and be close to you, but I need my space, too.” She’d also gotten way more honest. Maybe it had been the seventy-two-hour psych hold they’d put her on or the months and months of therapy.

There was a pause over the line. “Okay. I’m backing off, but you’re coming for Sunday supper. Delphine makes the best gumbo.”

She wasn’t really into spicy foods. She kind of stuck to salads and the occasional steak, but she was new here and that meant giving the place a chance. Even if she got heartburn.

She slammed on the brakes because there was something in her way. Something big and creepy and alive.

“There’s an alligator in the road.” A massive reptile blocked the path. She had to stare at it for a moment because it was completely surreal. Were the doors locked? She looked and made sure and then wondered how she thought the alligator would open the door in the first place.

“Is he missing the tip of his tail?” Lisa asked as though they were talking about something perfectly normal. If baby sis was worried that her precious sibling was about to be mauled, it didn’t sound like it.

Sure enough, the primeval-looking thing in the middle of the road had a tail that ended in a stump. Not that his tail wasn’t still long and terrifying-looking. “Yes.”