Page 177 of Face Off

“We’re here now.”

“Yes.”

Crystal stepped toward me before stopping.

“May I?”

The question surprised me.

I nodded once.

She wrapped her arms carefully around me.

For a moment, I remained stiff beneath the affection. Then her shoulders shook, and I placed one hand against her back.

Crystal cried against the humiliating powder-blue shirt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For judging you. For what I did to Charm. For standing beside Lance when I should have stood beside both of you. For knowing what he did afterward and taking too long to become brave enough to stop protecting him.”

I closed my eyes for half a second. “I forgive you.”

The words came easier this time.

Crystal held me tighter for one breath before releasing me. She wiped beneath her eyes and looked down at the shirt.

“Thank you for still being here.”

“This shirt should prove how much I love my people.”

She gave a wet laugh, “It’s a terrible color.”

I looked at her. “I may forgive you faster than expected.”

Her laugh trembled through the tears.

The patio door opened behind me. “Mom?”

Every muscle in Crystal’s body tightened. I removed my hand from her back and turned.

Charm stood inside the doorway wearing a clean yellow Maid of Honor 1 tank, black slacks that followed every curve I had spent most of the day touching, and a shit ton of confusion on her face.

14

Charm

My pen moved across the paper while Amy Lowell’s “The Taxi” remained open on my phone beside me.

Dear Ryan,

Do you remember asking me which grief was worse? Poe losing Annabel Lee to death or Lowell leaving someone she still loved behind while the city carried her farther away?

You answered before I finished asking. You said death doesn’t give anyone a choice, but walking away does. You said knowing someone remains alive somewhere without you can fuck with a person differently.

I thought I understood.

I hadn’t lost you yet.

I stopped writing and looked through the open curtains. The castle grounds stretched beyond my windows beneath late-afternoon sunlight while staff moved between the terrace and lawn preparing for the Bennett barbecue. Cars had begun curving along the drive, carrying the last of the guests toward a weekend Bliss had scheduled down to what I suspected were designated bathroom breaks.