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“You may have never thought differently, but your actions tell another story.”

“I just want the best for you.”

“I don’t believe you!” I shout, my voice bouncing off the walls.

She falls back onto her chair, as if I’ve shoved her down. “I will not deny that I am old-fashioned. There was a life I imagined for you when you were just a little girl, and I suppose . . . I suppose I have let that poison my mind over the years. You are my Bryce,ma fille, regardless of who you love.”

My throat tightens to the point I feel like I’m breathing through a straw. A swell of emotion rocks into the anger I’ve grappled, threatening to sweep it away.

“You have disregarded what I want for years now. It wasn’t asecret that I had no desire to go on the dates you continued to set up for me,” I say, refusing to back down.

“You created such an elaborate scheme to get me to stop. Is that the truth? I have broken that much of the trust between us?”

I swallow. “Yes.”

“I am the cause of this,” she mumbles to herself, a harsh slap of reality hitting her.

Her sob startles me. I can’t move from my spot in the doorway, and I don’t think she expects me to. As her shoulders curve and she cries, I blink back my own tears, refusing to let them fall.

“I won’t be going back to the town office. This is my formal resignation,” I start. Maybe I’m a terrible daughter, but a few tears will not fix this. And even if they could, I’m not ready to forgive and forget. “I’ve been tattooing the people in town for over a year now, and that’s what I want to do with my life. I’m going to open my own shop one day, and my girlfriend will be there with me when I do it.”

Maybe.

Daisy is my main concern right now, and knowing that there are people in this town talking about her has me livid. I want to protect her from all of this, but at the same time, what if I’m the one she needs to be protected from?

This is all my fault. She should have a say in what we do going forward. If there is anywein the future. How could I blame her for wanting to distance herself so she isn’t bunched in with me anymore?

Who is going to believe us now? Will the judgment continue once we’re seen out together and acting the way we have been for weeks now? The last thing I want is for Daisy to be the subject of a bad joke.

There will be doubt in everybody’s eyes from now on. Her parents included.

“Bryce . . .”

“Can you tell Dad that I want to talk to him?” I interrupt.

“Yes, I can.”

“Thank you.”

I turn to leave, needing to get the fuck out of this place before I say something stupid. For the first time in over a decade, I might have gotten through to her. I feel like an idiot for not asking her those questions earlier and continuing to pussyfoot around, wasting so many years away being unhappy.

But there’s nothing I can do now. I can’t go back.

Mom clears her throat, and I pause. “I do not know how things got so out of control.”

Me either.

With nothing else to say, I walk out of the room and the house that I’ve dreaded for so long. And this time, I don’t have a clue when I’ll be back.

41

DAISY

It’sa miracle that I managed to get through the day in one piece.

I looked at the clock more times than I think is normal for any one person, and I had the kids doing more free reading and chatting than I would ever allow on a normal day. By the time the final bell rang, I was packed up as quickly as they were.

It was my first day in weeks without either a lunchtime visit from Bryce or one of her small meals packed into my lunch box. I miss her so much already.