kind of connection with another person. She knew this wasn’t
just about the money anymore. Not for her. Not for Dani.
“I have to go, Mom,” she said softly. “I’ll call you in a
couple of days. Please don’t do anything reckless. Don’t sell
those lies. Just please rethink what you said. There are other
ways to fix this. I do want to come home. I miss you both. But
I can’t do it like that. I have to make sure Dani is okay.”
“She wouldn’t do the same for you,” Sandra hissed.
The line went dead.
Emily let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding,
but her lungs thanked her for it as soon as she did. She drank
in the cool air circulating through the car, before letting out a
groan and putting her head on her hands on the steering wheel.
This plan, which was supposed to be so uncomplicated and
make so much sense, had gotten really complicated really fast.
It wasn’t just that reporter who sold the story about them. It
was what had developed between her and Dani. She didn’t
want to let it go. She didn’t want to let it end.
She had no idea how she was going to convince her parents
that Dani had to be part of the deal now too, because Emily
wasn’t giving up on what they had. Yes, they might not have
known each other for very long, yes it might have started out
very platonic, as nothing more than a spoken contract between
them, but it was more than that. She didn’t want it to stop
being more than that. She didn’t want to give up on what they
had, however small and fragile and early it might be. She
wasn’t going to run out on Dani and leave her alone.
Was that what Dani wanted? She’d been clear when she said
they could do what they were doing, but it had to be with the
understanding that it was without strings because they couldn’t