“Teri, wait!” It was Lillian.
Almost against her will, Teri turned around. “What?”
Lillian ran down the walk to stop in front of her. She looked desperate. “Are you really never coming back?”
“Really,” Teri said.
“But, Teri, you have to understand.” Lillian’s voice was shrill. “Then it’ll just be me, and Mom will be—”
“You don’t have to stay either, Lillian,” Teri pointed out.
“I do. Mom needs me.”
“Lillian...” Teri rubbed her eyes. “Do what you have to do.”
Lillian looked back at the house. Their mother’s face hovered angrily in the window. “I have to go.” But she hesitated, and looked back at Teri. “What’s it like?” she asked in the quietest whispered voice.
“It’s perfect.” Teri could hear the utter confidence in her own voice. It was strange, she thought. Lillian was supposed to be the confident one, the older sister. But now she just looked lost and upset, while Teri felt strong and brave. “It’s like finding your true self.”
The door opened again. “I have to go,” Lillian said. But she grabbed Teri’s hand and squeezed it. “Take care of yourself, Teri. Really.” She looked up at Zach. “You take care of her.” That was the fierceness that Teri knew from her older sister.
“We will,” Teri promised her. “Goodbye.”
Lillian turned around to go stop their mother at the front door, while Zach tossed Teri’s bags quickly into the backseat of his car. They got in and drove away, and Teri watched the figures of her mother and sister grow tiny in the rear window.
“Are you okay?” Zach asked. “That was...more intense than I was expecting it to be. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
Teri turned back to look at him. “No, I’m sorry you had to hear my mother call you such awful names! You shouldn’t have had to go through that.” It was true, she realized—she was furious at her mother for insulting Zach. Otherwise, she mostly felt...free.
“I’m fine, Teri,” Zach said. Then he smiled. “I got a marriage proposal out of it, didn’t I?”
Teri blushed. “Sorry. God, talk about the worst possible place to bring up marriage! Maybe we can have a do-over...”
“Nope,” said Zach resolutely. “That was my marriage proposal, and I’m keeping it.” There was a pause. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t do something for you in return.”
Teri thought about Zach on one knee with a ring, and couldn’t contain her smile.
***
Zach couldn’t believe how Teri’s mother had treated her.
Well, he could believe it; he knew that some people were controlling and intolerant, and some of those people had children and were controlling and intolerant of them. But he’d never witnessed it quite so up close before.
He’d tried to stay strong and supportive of Teri, but not say anything that could’ve made it worse. He thought he’d done okay, but he couldn’t help but hope he’d never have to do it again.
“I’m proud of you,” he said to Teri as they unloaded her things and brought them into the house.
She was stronger now that she’d changed, and delighted in lifting the heavy suitcase by herself. Zach smiled at how happy she was about it—and there was also a part of him, a very growly part, that thrilled at having such a strong, capable mate.
She turned to look at him after they’d gotten inside. “Proud?”
“The way you stood up to your mom. You were so strong. It was amazing.”
She blushed. God, he loved that pink flush. “I’m...proud of myself,” she said after a minute. “It’s weird to think that I’m proud of myself for getting into a fight with my mom, but I really am.”
“She made the fight,” Zach said firmly. “You just stood your ground. I could tell it was hard, and I admire you for doing it so well. I don’t know if I could’ve done something like that.”
“Sometimes you just...have to,” Teri said quietly. “I put up with everything for months and months, because I had to do that. And now, I have to be away. I have to be with you. So that’s what I told her, and here we are.”