Page 45 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
“I’m okay. What are you doing?”
“Just thinking.”
“About?”
“When Vernon took me off the drugs, I was so fucking mad,” Milo said, speaking to the glass. “I honestly thought it was because of you. Because he knows I have feelings for you and it was his way of punishing me.”
“I thought so too.”
Milo’s shoulders fell. “I think Vernon has feelings for you too. I don’t like it. I’m man enough to admit I was jealous. But I don’t think that’s why he took me off the morphine. I think he saw.”
“Saw what?”
He hung his head. “That I needed it too much.”
“Oh, Milo.” I slipped my hand into his. My God, this man. How much strength had it taken him to admit that?
“Don’t get me wrong, I still think Vernon’s a douchebag.”
I laughed. “I agree.”
“But he’s a decent doctor.”
“Yeah, he is.”
We stood by the window, watching traffic race along the interstate in the distance. Below us, a few cars pulled in and out of the parking lot. A tractor was pushing a heap of snow into a boulevard.
“You need to do something about your brother.” Milo squeezed my hand.
“I know,” I whispered. “I wish my dad were here. He’d know what to do.”
“What about your mom?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think Denny will listen to her. I don’t think she’s ever made him follow a rule a day in his life. She’s always been lenient where he’s concerned.”
“Your mom is not what I expected.”
“She’s my polar opposite. She craves attention. She is always doing something with friends because she can’t be alone. Then there’s me. Plain and dull Sara.”
“What?” Milo turned away from the window and dropped my hand. Then he placed both of his hands on my shoulders.
He was so tall. Standing this close, he towered over me, blocking out some of the light from the window. It was like standing beneath my very own cloud, its shadow protecting me from the sun.
“Sara, you are not plain. Or dull.” He framed my cheek with his hand.
“Yes, I am.”
“No, babe, you’re not.” He bent and brushed his lips against mine. “You shine.”
Eight
“Guess what?” I asked the moment Milo answered the phone.
“What?”
“Luna called me!” I squealed. “We just hung up.”
“Yeah? That’s great, babe.” Milo had been calling me babe for the past two weeks, and it was quickly becoming my favorite word.
