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“She was always closer with Rose,” Cecilia argued with no heat She set the phone on the bedside table “She’s probably really freaked out I’ to bother her”

She twisted on the bed and laid doith her back tothe covers up to her shoulder

“You wantat the squir her arms in front of her face

“If you don’t mind, yeah,” Cecilia said from beneath the covers

I stared at Cecilia’s back for a while, wondering if I should crawl in behind her Cecilia and Lily’s relationship was complicated, and I knew that was mostly because of the woman curled into a ball in front of me—but I also knew that she didn’t want it to be that way Sometimes, people just fell into patterns that were nearly iet out of I hated that she didn’t even feel welco so terrifying

Olive started to fuss and when Cecilia didn’t even reach for her, I madethe door behind me so her mother could rest

“You want a tour?” I asked Olive quietly as I strode toward the stairs Her little body felt good against my chest, and for the first time in a couple days, it felt like I could exhale

Later, I’d be grateful for that little piece of calm before the storm

Chapter 9

Cecilia

I stared at a small drip of paint on the sill, millimeters away from where it met the wall It was alht mid-roll and was now stuck in that sa the nearly pristine paintwork A mistake that was now permanently part of the room