I sigh. “There’s this thing I might want to do.”

“Do it,” Jake commands.

“But Mom and Devin are going to lose it—”

“So fucking what? You spend too much time doing what makes everyone else happy and you’ll end up miserable, Jessie.”

“What if making other people happy makes me happy, smart ass?” I look down at my watch, wondering if I can still make it to the dodgeball game for Maddy.

“You’re smarter than that.”

“I’ve gotta go.”

“Of course you do.” He sighs. “See you next week for dinner?”

“Like I have a choice?” I quip and we both chuckle. “And Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Any time, Jessie Bird.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Devin

“Anyone home?” I holler.

“Yeah, coming,” Becs calls from her room. I’m taking her out to a movie tonight, one of the traditions we started when she moved in with Rob and Mandy. I wanted to make sure there was still at least one night a week where it was just us, our small two-person family.

I grab a soda out of the fridge and take a sip as I thumb through the mail, waiting on my baby sister to get her butt in gear. A large, fat envelope at the bottom of the stack catches my attention. It’s got an Indiana address in the corner and Becs’ name on the front. I flip it over and the words Welcome to Notre Dame! in green and gold across the back have my blood boiling.

“Ready?” Becs asks, popping into the kitchen without a care in the world.

“What the hell is this?”

Her eyes go wide, but she brushes me off. “Nothing. Just more college stuff.”

“Indiana?” I bark out.

She squares her shoulders. “Yes. In Indiana.”

“No.” She’s young. She doesn’t know what it’s like out there alone. How shitty people can be. And I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure she goes a little bit longer not knowing.

“Notre Dame is one of the best colleges in the country and I’ve got a full ride.” She raises her voice and her hands ball into fists.

“It’s dangerous.”

“So what? I just shouldn’t go to college, then? You want me to work at the shop with you for the rest of my life?” Her words are coated in disgust. Her contempt for my job, my life, is written across her face.

I let out a low sigh. “That’s not what I’m saying—”

“Oh, better yet, why don’t you just lock me here in my room until I die?” she bites out.

This conversation is getting away from me. “There’s a college right down the fucking street. You’re my baby sister—”

“I am not a baby!” Becs shouts at me.