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When the door shut behind hiht collapse into a heap, all my bones y, Bianca"

"What are you talking about?" I said, truly confused

She searched my eyes "I overheard what Trace said to you the other day, out on the sidewalk after you both left I rong about him"

"Oh, Mama," I breathed, sorry she’d had to hear that wretched skirt chaser call me a terrible name

Then she said, "I heard what you told him, too," and all the blood drained from my face

That asshole is h for the whole block to hear

"I thought you were just being spiteful, which he deserved, don’t getBut Jackson Boudreaux just asked for my permission to marry you"

My whole body went numb So that’s why he wanted to meet my mother He wanted to ask her for my hand

I wasn’t sure which would happen first, the fainting or the vo

She smiled "Don’t look so traumatized, baby, I said yes It seee? It was the same way for me and your daddy And you’ve always had your head screwed on straight I know you wouldn’t want to ht-lipped about it" Her eyes narrowed slightly as she dared hts, I froze I blurted, "Slap, slap, kiss"

She looked confused for a moment, then her face cleared "You ht like cats and dogs until they suddenly realize they’re crazy about each other?"

After a second of shock so profound it felt like a cannonball had blown through"Exactly!" I howled

She shrugged "Makes perfect sense to me"

And just like that, it was done

TWENTY-THREE

JACKSON

Though she only lived a few blocks away from her mother, Bianca was in no shape to walk home I wouldn’t have let her walk anyway, not when I had a car, but she had a blank, stunned look when she came out of the house that hborhood for hours before finally realizing she was lost and lying down in the gutter for a nap

I’ve seen someone hit in the head with a shovel who had

I held the car door open for her She inserted herself into the seat with the grace of a zos and stiff arms, the opposite of the way she norfor you," I said once I was seated behind the wheel

Bianca laughed It was the noise a dog made when you stepped on its tail "You asked my mother for permission to marry me," she said

"I did"

She looked at me with eyes so wide the whites showed all around her irises "What would you have done if she’d said no?"