“Right.”

“And you’re married to your best friend’s older brother.”

“This is true.”

She gapes at me. “What kind of messed-up drama is this?”

I grin at her. “Oh, you have no idea. It got a lot worse before it got better. There was… well. Otter and I kissed before he left—”

“You were jailbait,” she says, sounding scandalized.

“He just couldn’t resist, I guess. And it got weird, and then—well. Mom left and Otter left, and it was just… it wasn’t good. For a long time, it wasn’t good. It felt like part of me was missing. And it wasn’t because of her.”

“It was because of him,” she whispers.

I nod. “I didn’t know it. Not at the time. But yeah. It was him.” I smile weakly. “But then he came back, and things got… strange. But it worked out, in the end. And you know what I found out about him?”

“What?”

“When Otter Thompson loves you, it’s for life. He doesn’t do things halfway. If you’ve earned his love, that’s it. There were… others. Before me. For him. But I don’t think he ever truly loved them. Not like he does us. He told himself he was happy, but I don’t think he ever truly believed it. He’s built differently. Than you. Or me. Or Ty. We’re more… reserved. We protect ourselves and our hearts because of everything we’ve been through. It’s harder for us. But it got easier. Because of him. He’s—there’s not a single thing he wouldn’t do for us. For you. And I know you know that, but you need to hear it out loud, okay? When Otter loves you, it’s for life. And he loves you, Izzie. As much as he loves me or Ty. Because you’re his now. And you’re very lucky because of that. You will always have someone who has your back. Someone who will fight for you. Protect you. Make sure you have everything you could ever want. Sometimes—I think even I can forget that. Things… they weren’t always easy. And that will still happen every now and then. He’s not perfect. I’m definitely not. Obviously. We’ll make mistakes. But just know there will not be a time that we won’t want you here with us. It may take you a long time to believe it, and that’s okay. We’ll be here when you do.”

She’s quiet for a long time after that. I’m not sure if I should say more, but I don’t know what else I can say to reassure her. She’s watching me, but her expression is giving nothing away. Just when I’m about to open my mouth to say something, she beats me to it.

“Can you hug me now?” she asks in a small voice.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. I’m very happy to do that.”