“Oh my God,” I said. “You like him!”
“What’s not to like? A bald head and a broad chest. That man is in fine physical form. And he was good in a crisis. I kind of like that.” She shrugged.
“I think he likes you too. He’s been doing a lot to help you.”
“Well, I’m bat-shit crazy, so he probably feels sorry for me.”
“I don’t think so. I think he truly wants to help. I don’t know why, though.”
Shelly said nothing. She just stared at me. “You seem different,” she finally said.
I swiped a hand beneath my nose. “They’re gone.”
Shelly’s brows rose. “All of them?” She rocked in her seat a little, squirming.
“Yes. I haven’t heard from any of them since that day. Not one.”
“Not even Ash?”
“No. But I had an insatiable desire to run ten miles this morning.”
“That’s Charlie for you.”
“And yesterday, I felt the need to paint my nails black. I don’t even like black.” I wiggled my newly blackened fingernails in her face.
“That’s Ash.”
“And I got the stuff to change the oil in Mason’s car. I don’t even know how, but I bought the stuff.”
“It’ll come to you. That’s Jamie.”
“And their memories, the ones that had seemed fuzzy to me, they are really clear now.”
“No missing parts. That’s good.”
“I don’t even know what’s happening.”
She squeezed the hand she still held. “They’re integrating. They’ve always been a part of you, but now they’re really part of you, rather than separate from you.”
“Why do you think they’re doing this?” I asked.
“They realized your baby is the most important thing in the world. That’s why.”
I snorted. “You make it sound like he’s the messiah or something.”
“He’s not the messiah, but he’s the truth and the light. He’s you and Mason, because your love grew so big that it spilled over and made someone new. Something beautiful. And they know how important he is to you. They know he’s worth it.”
“Worth what?” I chewed on my lower lip.
“Worth integrating. They don’t have to go away. They just have to become part of you. Easy peasy.”
“It’s not easy peasy.” Nothing about this was easy peasy.
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m going to go to the police when I leave here. I’m going to tell them I did it. I’m going to get you out of here. It’s the right thing to do.” My voice cracked. “I know we haven’t been close in a really long time, but I do love you.”
This time, it was Shelly whose eyes filled up with tears. She blinked them back quickly. “I wasn’t going to sleep with him, you know?”