Gilly snorted. “That’s the freaking truth. I really will go if you feel like you need to see her.”
I shook my head. “I’m good. I’ll go once the weather’s better and she’s putting the pressure on to see her vegetable garden.”
“Or you could tell her to fuck off. Like I’ve been telling you to do for years.”
“I can’t.” When you lost someone you loved, it made it hard to let go of anyone else—even if they didn’t have your best interests at heart.
“Okay, I’ll drop it. I actually have a couple of other things to run by you.”
I set my coffee down. “Hit me with it.”
“Serena’s moving back to Wolf Gap.”
I stilled. “When?” Jase’s sister had avoided our town much like my mother and brother did. But for her, I think it was simply too painful. Too many memories to contend with. The problem was, she hadn’t been able to find her place anywhere. She’d transferred colleges four times before dropping out altogether and heading to New York to take a stab at modeling. Last I’d heard, she had followed a boyfriend to Majorca and was working in a bar there.
Gilly eyed me carefully. “Don’t hate me, but I told her I could find a place for her here.”
I was quiet for a beat. “I’d never hate you for that. I’m just surprised she wants to work with me.” Serena and I had been close once, but all of that changed after Jase’s death. She’d started acting out and getting into trouble. We’d gone more than a few rounds before the friendship dropped away altogether.
“I’m sorry, Cherub. I know it’s another loss for you, but maybe this will be a chance for you two to reconnect.”
“Maybe.” I missed Serena. Our friendship. I couldn’t deny that. But I didn’t have a lot of hope for the repairs required to close that chasm.
“She’s living in the apartment over the garage at her parents’, and this will give her a chance to get on her feet again.”
“I already have Addie helping, too. I’m not sure how many hours I’ll really need someone else.”
Gilly rolled the beads on one of her necklaces between her fingers. “And I love Addie. But she’s going to have a baby before too long, and you usually have two employees helping.”
“That’s during the summer.” What I wanted to add was that Serena would likely be more work than she was help.
“You’ll find something for her to do, I’m sure.”
I didn’t agree or disagree, I changed the subject. “What’s the second thing you wanted to ask me about?”
Gilly arched a brow. “Don’t think I don’t see your game.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “If I ignore it, then it doesn’t exist in my world.”
“If only that were the truth.”
“When it comes to Serena, I’m going to live in ignorance-is-bliss land.”
Gilly shook her head, but her mouth curved into a smile. “Fair enough.” She paused for a moment, seeming to assess me. “Kay wants to do Jase’s birthday celebration Saturday afternoon. Does that work for you?”
A burning fire lit along my sternum, but I swallowed it down. “Okay.”
I’d marked each of the nine years since that night with the Grangers. Every birthday. Every anniversary of Jase’s death. Even though it killed a piece of me to do it. To feel their pain like a branding iron on my skin. Yet they were the only ones who truly understood mine.
But this year would be harder. Anniversaries always were. And it would be ten years this summer. Kay had thrown herself into honoring her son in every way she could think of. Benches. Statues. Scholarships. She’d even managed to fund a new wing of the local library we were christening tonight.
I forced my focus back to this weekend. “Will Jax be there?”
With Jax, I didn’t feel pain. It was rage—an anger strong enough to swallow us all whole.
Gilly’s mouth thinned. “He got the day off work.”
“That should be fun,” I mumbled.