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“Yeah” I hadn’t digested the fact that ht of Grace, and noas thinking aboutfro to be

“Do you want to talk about her?” Grace sat up

I shrugged “Nothing much to tell She raised me, fed me, sent me to school, toldfro”

Grace’s face fell “Did she ever say she loved you, or she was proud?”

I snorted “On camera, all the time, you’d think she was the mom of the year She should have been an actress We randparents died and never looked back I found out later it was because they left her a bit ofMeanwhile, I was devastated I’d neverback into their house felt like I was a part of the worth ht purses, a brand-new car My dad didn’t stop her And I couldn’t bear it any about money, and I just, I couldn’t I studied hard, and there was an audition for the label I saw it as an escape”

“But you can’t run forever,” Grace said sadly

“No,” I agreed “Your past always catches up”

“I’o here, if they’re weeks or days, or if you set up a viewing I’o with you—whatever you need to do, to respect the life she had even if you don’t respect her I’ll go”

I couldn’t answer her

I didn’t deserve her

But I would take her up on it

Because I needed her

More than she would ever know

“Yeah” I agreed “I would like that”

“Okay” She lay back down “Go sleep, Lucas”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Grace,” I said like before

“Kiss me, Lucas,” she whispered

“Okay” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her mouth “I don’t mind orders like that”

“Don’t leave ain…” A fresh sheen of tears flooded her eyes

“I promise” I kissed her forehead “I promise”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Good things come to those ait…

Lucas

It had been three weeks since the accident Things had gone sothe asshole he was, actually asked

I did without co

And when Grace held my hand as I stared at my mom’s picture, I toldwas because I had Grace by my side