“Then we’ll just have to stay in our awesome suite. Try to find a way to occupy our time.” He grins.

That sounds good to me.

38. Claire

38

CLAIRE

“So, you’re here, hm?”

It would be inaccurate to say I don’t know this tone of my grandmother’s voice. I’ve heard it my whole life. Except typically she uses it to talk to my mother.

Bracing myself, I walk in. “I told you I’d come at five. Did they check you in all right?”

She was admitted at four, and I know the private care Keller arranged for her means that she would have been shown to her room right away.

“Yes. They’ve been pleasant this time—none of that waiting around for hours I get when my insurance is footing the bill. I’m truly blessed to have been chosen for this grant. But none of that. You, young lady, are getting yourself into some trouble, I can tell. What sort of person stops talking to her family and breaks up with her boyfriend of four years mere days after moving away? Something’s very wrong with you.”

It’s a struggle not to roll my eyes. Maybe I would have called if she were interested in speaking to me about something other than Noah. “Noah and I didn’t fit. I’m glad it’s over. But I didn’t come back to discuss him. I’m here so you have company before and after the operation. I understand they’re taking you in at six?”

“Yes. Bit late for a procedure, hm?”

It is. Likely so I could be here without missing classes. Keller is the kind of guy to think about everything. “Maybe.”

She’s not to be deterred, determined. “And well, I want to talk about Noah. His grandparents are my friends. How can I face them after what you’ve done to the poor boy?”

Jesus.

So far, I’ve enjoyed wine and cocktails and champagne because they tasted good in fun, social settings. For the first time, I understand people who drink as a copying mechanism when dealing with stupidity. I could down a glass of Pouilly-Fumé right now. Where’s Arlo’s chilled wine selection when we need it?

“You can tell them people break up all the time. Noah’s not that bothered.”

And that’s true. After a few days of insults, he gave up. I didn’t even have to block him.

“That’s not what he told me,” she snaps.

A knock interrupts us, thank god. Grateful, I turn, expecting a nurse, but it isn’t. Instead, I find myself face to face with my mother.