Greta’s stomach flipped. When Carys put it that way, what she’d done sounded absolutely horrible. Then another even more horrible thought dawned on her.

“Oh my god, I’m my mother. Fuck! This is exactly what she does! She thinks she knows what all of us actually need, and she just does it. I’m… Oh my god.”

Greta shoved her hands in her hair and fisted it. Was this how it happened? Was it impossible to escape her family even seventeen hundred miles away? She hadn’t even realized her own thought process, but she had done the exact opposite of what Carys had asked and hadn’t even noticed. How? How was it possible?

She dropped to the couch like a stone. “Fuck, I’m so sorry,” she said, horrified. “I’m so damn sorry.”

Carys’ expression had softened considerably. She laid a hand, palm up, on Greta’s knee, and Greta took it, squeezing her fingers tightly.

“Thank you. I accept your apology, and we’re all good. Just keep it in mind in the future, okay?”

Greta nodded avidly, thinking hard.

“God, now all I can think of is what other, like, grenades are buried in my brain just waiting to explode parent-ness all over you. I mean…um…all over…people. People I’m in relationships with,” she amended awkwardly.

Carys smiled. “I’m sure they’re in there. Lord knows we all have them.”

Greta bit her lip. “That was a fight, right? We just had a fight. But we’re…okay?”

“We had a talk about a thing that happened that I didn’t like and won’t accept,” Carys said. “Is that a fight?”

“The word doesn’t matter, I guess. Just…you were so calm.”

Carys blew out a breath, curls lifting. “Yeah, well. Lots of therapy. Also, did I mention therapy?”

Greta smiled, settling into the couch more comfortably.

“My mom is totally activated by any emotion, so I guess I prefer conflict that’s the opposite of the way it goes with her.”

“And the other thing?” Greta prompted.

“Hmm?”

“Are we…okay?”

Carys looked her in the eyes and nodded. “We’re okay. But I wanna be really clear. Apologies only mean something to me if behavior changes. So we’re okay. But if this keeps happening after we’ve discussed it, I won’t be.”

Greta swallowed hard. It sounded so threatening.

Then she stopped herself. No, not threatening. Honest. Clear. Straightforward. Neutral. Greta was the one who was thinking about threats and ultimatums. Of course an apology didn’t mean shit if you kept doing the thing you apologized for.

“Got it. I’m going to try really hard. But if it seems like maybe it’s happening again, do you think—I mean, could you—or…” She stopped, trying to find a way to express herself without being like Help me not hurt you.