Page 38 of Caution to the Wind

Henning wasn’t so convinced. He glared at me, a Mexican showdown until it became obvious I wasn’t going to cave.

“I’m definitely fuckin’ drivin’ you,” he grunted before stalking out of the room.

The door to the garage slammed behind him.

Cleo turned to me with huge eyes. “Is Brian really a drug dealer? Because if so, I get why Dad’s mad, Mei. Why would you want to get caught up in that?” A pause, delicate and shivering with her anxiety and remembered pain. “Didn’t Mum’s death teach you anything?”

I tried to swallow the stone lodged in my throat to no avail.

Of course, it taught me something,I wanted to confess.

It taught me to protect my loved ones at all costs.

It taught me to seek revenge for injustices.

It taught me that no wrong goes punished unless people are brave enough to risk themselves to see them penalized.

But I didn’t say any of it because I didn’t want to burden Cleo with my secrets and my shame. Her mother had died, yes, but she hadn’tbeentherein that room, swearing on the blood spilling between us that she’d take care of Kate’s loved ones no matter what.

I took that responsibility seriously, and tonight, I’d finally be a huge step closer to figuring out why tragedy struck the Axelsen family five years ago.

I just had to sell a little of my soul to get there.

An hour later,after Cleo and I delicately picked at a pizza because we were too nervous––for two very different reasons––to eat much, we were ready to go to prom.

Lin had ushered us out onto the front lawn for a few photos while we waited for Henning to clean up before taking us in his old Ford pickup. She was so tiny that to get the right angle for the photos, Cleo had carried out a small stool for her to stand on.

“I know you’d rather saw off your arm than go to prom,” Cleo said through her smile as we posed with our arms around each other.

I laughed under my breath. “I was actually thinking earlier I’d rather pluck out my own eyeballs with a hot poker.”

“Wow, points for creativity,” she teased, turning us so we were in the typical “date” pose for prom photos, her arms around my middle while she stood behind me. “I just wanted to say thank you. I know you do a lot of things for me you wouldn’t usually want to do, and it means a lot to me.”

Something funny happened to my heart, a too-tight feeling like it was expanding in my chest.

“You mean a lot to me, so it’s no big deal.”

“No,” she argued, turning me again to take my hands in hers. “That’s just the thing, Mei. It is a big deal. The truth is, I don’t know how I’d survive without you. You make me feel safe, you know?”

My chest was so full that I could barely draw breath. I took a moment to compose myself and squeezed her hands. “Yeah, I know. Same goes.”

She smiled before raising her curled index finger and thumb between us. “Best friends for life.”

“Best friends for life,” I agreed, adding my curled index and thumb to her half so we formed the shape of a heart with our fingers, a little ritual we’d done since we were kids.

Lin’s loud sniffle broke our moment, and we both turned to see her dabbing carefully at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“What?” she snarked. “I’m a grandmother now. I’m allowed to cry when my babies have big moments.”

Cleo and I shared a look before moving forward together to hug Lin and pepper her with kisses. She pretended to hate every moment, but she had a hand on each of us like she didn’t want to let us go. Once properly smothered, I moved off to one side while she got some shots of Cleo next to the hydrangea bush. I was grateful for the reprieve because I hated getting my photo taken.

It didn’t help that I was feeling increasingly nauseated about tonight. I’d never evendonedrugs, so how the hell was I expecting to sell them to students at the after-party tonight?

The only thing that helped to distract me was the joy on Cleo’s face. She was thoughtful, reserved, and quiet, but when she smiled, she warmed everyone in the vicinity with her light.

“You look stunning,” Lin promised as Cleo fussed with her half-up style, fat locks of golden-brown hair curled into bouncy waves around her chest and back.

She was right. In a sage-green dress that brought out the grey-green of her eyes and the unblemished gold of her skin, Cleo looked radiant and every inch her mother’s daughter.