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I have a massive pile of raccoons in various sizes and several more on my bed. I drop into the plushies in the living room as if they’re a giant bean bag chair. The pile is thick enough that I barely sink.

“I know you’re there,” she huffs in frustration. “Being shy is not in your nature. Let it out.”

Might as well. Maybe I’ll get something out of this mess. I take a deep breath and steel myself for whatever comes next.

“I’ve got something to ask you. It’s not about Asher or his angel. Does the One ever walk away? Do they feel it when you do?”

The silence that follows confuses me. Usually, she’s a wellspring of information and excitement when anyone brings up the One theory. I heard her talking to Suzette when she met her first guy, comforting her and reassuring her it would all work out. Asher said she was the same with him, to the point that he almost had to hang up on her to get her to stop.

“Are you sure this isn’t about Asher?”

I rear back in surprise, giving the phone a baffled look before I return it to my ear. “No, Maman-”

“I know you’re jealous, girlie. Don’t deny it.”

My eyes widen in surprise. Jealous of what? Asher finally getting his head out of his ass and becoming a real boy?

“I can and will deny it. Mainly because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She lets out a harsh puff of air. I know that when she gets her breath back, I’m in for it. We usually butt heads, probably because I don’t roll over and play dead like my sisters. I stopped blindly giving in when it didn’t net me any results like it does with the rest of the siblings.

Maman is a force. Usually, it’s a good force. At least for the rest of her children, it is.

“Right. I’m telling you this for the last time. You move back home. Leave my baby alone.” Her tone has darkened a bit. The “you’re on my last nerve” sound I’m more than familiar with.

“Maman,” I groan in frustration. “I’m not calling you aboutAsher.”

She keeps on without pause. “I didn’t say anything when you moved out there to be with him.”

That’s a lie. She told me it was a bad idea and that my art wasn’t good enough to be a tattoo artist. Then she accused me of trying to leech joy off of Asher as if he had any. I would have starved if that were my only sustenance. I ignored her, which pissed her off more. She’s still convinced I’m here to cause trouble for him.

She keeps talking while I debate hanging up. If I do that, she’ll call back even madder.

“Now it’s gotten to be too much. He’s settled. It’s time for you to get settled, too.”

“I couldn’t possibly be happy with my life as it is. I’m sure you’re going to tell me how it should be done,” I bitterly mumble.

“Stop this nonsense with the tattoos and come home. I’ll find someone perfect for you. You don’t need to worry about some soulmate.”

That startles me into sitting up straight. She’s the biggest believer in the myth. I’ve seen it in Suzette and Asher. I know it’s real, especially now that I’ve met Poe. She has never, not once, urged us not to find them.

“What does that mean?” I ask in disbelief. “You’re telling me to walk away from something you’ve made sure we believed our whole lives for some random man you think is right for me? What happened to the One being it for us, and holding out until you found them?”

Her response is a frustrated sigh.

“Maman?” I push harder as dread begins to build in my stomach.

“I think things will go a bit different for you, girlie.”

That’s news. And what the hell does it mean? I’m already aching in my chest. Like my heart knows something is coming that’s going to leave a deep scar.

“Why?”

“You’re different from the rest of us. You constantly buck the system without thinking of anyone else.”

“What?” I let out a breathless laugh that doesn’t have any humor in it.

Yeah, I’m not much for authority, but I’ve never hurt anyone with my hard-headedness. I think of my family nonstop. I sacrificed a lot of myself to make them see me as a part of the family instead of the interloper I became. The only brunette in a sea of blonds. It’s one of the things I was hoping to get away from out here. That need to give in to whatever they need from me. Therapy has taught me that I can be an individual, and I want to keep it that way.