Once she’s gone, I turn to see Jessica still standing there. The look on her face makes me want to slay dragons. “Jess . . .”

She shakes her head, snapping out of the trance. “It’s fine. It’s fine. I knew it.”

“No, it’s absolutely not fine.”

“I should’ve—” She breathes deeply through her nose. “Said something cutting.”

I want to laugh because Jessica isn’t built that way. She never was, and being rude and mean-spirited has never been her thing. Not to mention, there is no one as good at being horrible as my mother.

“What would you have said?” I ask as I make my way closer to her.

“Something about her hair.”

I fight back a grin. “She would’ve hated that.”

The color is back in her face, and she lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t know why she upsets me so much.”

“Because she’s a horrible person and has always treated you like shit.”

“How did you come from her? You, your brothers, and sister are all wonderful and kind.”

I rest against the wall so I’m close to her but not so close that she doesn’t have space. “My grandmother was a saint, and she was around when we were little.”

She worries her lower lip. “I remember you talking about her.”

It hurts to think of her. Love wasn’t a weapon with Nana. She was warm when my parents were cold and always pointed out the reasons they were great parents. “When my parents were first married, back when they could actually be tolerant of each other, Nana lived with us. She was my mother’s mother and loved her grandchildren more than anything. She would spend hours with each of us, trying to shield us from the hatred she saw coming from my parents and giving us a better model to follow.”

There were so many times my grandmother would just talk about love and acceptance. We were learning from her, even when we didn’t know it.

“She did a good job of it.”

I smile wistfully. “Yeah, I hope she’d be happy with how we turned out.”

Jessica walks toward me, her fingers grip my forearm. “She would.”

“I’m sorry that, once again, my mother acted that way to you.”

Jess steps back, her eyes turning away. “I don’t know why she still hates me. I’m not staying in town, and you and I aren’t . . .”

“No, we’re not.” I remind myself more than anything.

We’re nothing. We are just two old friends who loved each other once. Who also happened to kiss a few days ago, and I stayed up praying she would come to my bed.

“So, why she is worried? I have no idea.”

Because I’m crazy about you, and she knows it.

“Yeah, I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because Melia was so excited about you.”