aren’t always on the same page. Sometimes one needs time to
catch up to the other, but other times, they’ll stay at odds. Both
her head and her heart were in alignment, but she also
wondered how much damage she would do trying to force
Dani to change her mind. If Dani couldn’t do that naturally,
maybe what she needed was time.
“I don’t want to destroy what I know we have,” Emily said
thinly. “So, I’m going to stop talking now. I’m going to do
what you’re asking me to do, pack up, and go back home. I’m
going to talk to my parents, and I’ll figure out how we can
move forward. We’ll take a few days to think about things and
then I’ll call you. Would that be okay?”
Dani shook her head furiously. Emily could tell she was
holding something back, but then she spun around and grasped
the counter again, staring out the window.
“You have a good family. A good life. You’ll get it figured
out and you’ll be fine,” Dani said, and it sounded so final that
Emily nearly let all the tears that were threatening flow
unchecked.
She wanted to ask how Dani could know that, but she’d
already decided it wasn’t the right time to ask things like that.
Dani seemed so sure in this moment, but with a few nights to
think about things, would she change her mind? Would
whatever was bothering her be worked out, at least in her own
head? Emily hoped so. That was all she could cling to. Hope.
She walked out of the kitchen and packed her bag quickly.
Her art supplies were already in their bag. She took both bags
and walked back to the kitchen. She wished she could find Mr.
Pickles to say goodbye, but he was probably in Dani’s room,
and Emily didn’t want to go in there. It would feel like an