“If it’s okay, I’m going to spend the night there. I promised
Dani that I’d come back and talk to her. We have so much we
need to talk about now that we’ve figured things out.”
“That’s fine.” Emily had never known her mother to be so
understanding, but Sandra was smiling at her. “I’ll make her
up a plate and you can take it with you.”
Now it was Emily blinking back tears. Her parents had
changed in the time she’d spent away from the house. They’d
realized things too, they’d learned how to listen to her, but she
knew it wasn’t all them. There hadn’t been this big,
monumental change like it appeared. She’d changed her mind
too, and her parents, instead of fighting her and alienating her,
were giving her the freedom to choose and the help she needed
to get there.
It meant more to her than she could put into words, so she
didn’t try. One day soon, maybe, but they didn’t seem to be
needed at the moment, so she just smiled and passed around
dishes.
She was right about one thing. It was a beef roast under that
big metal dome.
Chapter 21
Dani
“I can’t believe this,” Dani said after Emily had come back,
sat down, and told her everything.
Emily had brought with her a carefully wrapped up plate of
food with roast beef, creamy mashed potatoes, buttery green
beans, and lots of gravy. There was even a little plastic baggie
with roast beef all cut up for Mr. Pickles. Dani couldn’t eat
anything until she heard what Emily had to say, so she’d
tucked the plate in the fridge, fed a very happy cat, and sat