I had a good feeling about the older grandchild, Sean. He was into some sick shit on the Internet. Never underestimate teenage hormones high on dungeon porn.

The younger one, Mickey, was different. She wasn’t exactly clean; she had her own sticky parts. But she was quieter in her head than Sean, which made her more intriguing. She felt like her grandpa. Of course, I celebrated the night I signed Evan; he was my fourth Harrison. But it didn’t feel like I thought it would. Somehow, I walked away feeling like it was me who got played. Mickey made me feel the same way, and I liked it. Sean was my safety school; Mickey was my reach.

But then there was Ruth.

None of us were prepared for Ruth.

LILY

“YOU’LL ONLY BE A few hours away,” Gavin said, tracing the line of Lily’s underwear where it hit that tattoo she got on her eighteenth birthday. The one she pretended she regretted, but that she still secretly loved as much as the day she got it.

“It might as well be a world away,” Lily answered, pulling her shirt over her head. Gavin’s hand fell back to the bedspread. Lily freed her blond hair from her collar, feeling the weight of it on her shoulders. Gavin loved her hair. They all did.

“I could come up there, come see you.”

Lily inhaled to button her jeans. She could feel the cold, dirty thing slither into her gut.

“No, you can’t.”

Gavin didn’t respond.

“Gav, you know you can’t.”

She turned and looked at him. He was working his belt buckle into the third loop, sitting on the edge of the bed. She watched his hands, the way they gripped the leather.

“It’ll be six weeks,” she said. “And I’ll see you before I go. At least once, I promise.” Gavin let go of his belt and grabbed her wrist, pulling her whole structure down.

“I could meet you somewhere nearby,” he whispered into her hair. “There have to be places like this in New Hampshire.”

“Sex hotels?” Lily asked. Her voice was strict, but the rest of her wasn’t.

“No, not a sex hotel. Something classy. I promise,” he said as he kissed her neck. “It’ll be classy.”

“It’s the family vacation,” she said.

Gavin took a deep breath and fell back against the pillow.

“And tonight is a Tuesday,” he said. “What’s the difference?”

Instead of answering, Lily kissed him with her full mouth, even though she tasted like sex and dehydration.

“Just six weeks,” she said, gathering her coat from beside the bed. “Then I’ll be back, and it’ll be like I never left.”

“It’s never like you never left.”