“It’s a vibrator, Lily,” Rose snaps, “not the Holy Grail.”
I give Rose a smile. “So you don’t want it then?”
She glares like she’s ready to put me in the shredder.
I stifle a larger grin and turn to Lily. “Sorry, love. It’s going in the trash.”
She surrenders rather easily. I unhook my arms from her and slide the vibrator into the garbage with the others.
The front door opens, and Ryke saunters into the kitchen, carrying two large vases, white lilies poking his face. As soon as Lily spots the flowers, she slips behind my back and clutches onto my shirt—like whoever sent the floral arrangements are about to jump from the vase and grow life-sized.
“These were by the gate,” Ryke says. “I would have left them, but the paparazzi were trying to get photographs of the cards.” I hold open the trash bag, and Rose suddenly has a fit.
“They’ll break!” she yells at me. “And then the glass will tear the bag, slice someone, and blood will be everywhere. I can’t clean blood out of the hardwood.”
I narrow my eyes. “Just so we have this clear, I rank above the floor.”
“It’s Brazilian cherry,” she says like that makes all the difference. She turns to Ryke. “Throw the vases in the recycling bins in the garage.”
He tips the vases upside down, only the flowers and cards falling into my trash bag. Lily still hasn’t disentangled from my shirt. I gather her hands and intertwine her fingers in mine. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask.
Her eyes fix dazedly to the trash bag, and I’m not sure where she’s truly gone. But she’s not in a fantasy. She’s somewhere sadder and darker.
Very softly, she says, “I don’t want lilies at the wedding.”
She’s never referred to it as my or our wedding. It’s always the wedding. Marriage is supposed to be this happily ever after, but for her it feels like a means to an end.
“You don’t have to think about that,” Rose tells her. “It’s not for another year. We’re not even going to plan it anytime soon.”
Ryke nods to me. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, I just need to change out of my jeans.”
“You can change in the car,” he tells me. “I have shorts and stuff in there.” He checks his watch. “I just want to beat a storm that’s supposed to roll in.”
Right because we’re going to be outside. Climbing a mountain. Just don’t kill me, God. That would be so fucking cruel to kill me now.
Before I leave, I kiss Lily lightly. “What are you doing today?” I ask, worried that she’ll spend the afternoon and night bingeing on old cartoons, isolated in the living room. She claims it’s a normal bout of summer laziness, but I know her well.
She can’t be afraid of the world forever.
“I was thinking about going to your office. Maybe get some work done,” she says. My lungs fill with relief. I love that I have chosen a business she can take pleasure in, something that can be both of ours one day. I want her to graduate college first, accomplish what I couldn’t.
“Call Garth,” I tell her.
She crinkles her nose. “He smells like old cheese.”
I grin. I chose the perfect bodyguard. “Don’t leave this house without him.”
“Don’t fall off a giant rock.”
“I’ll return him to you alive,” Ryke tells her.
“You better.” Lily holds a non-threatening finger at him.
He smiles coyly, like he plans on fucking with the ropes or the harness to scare the shit out of me, just to retaliate for the mankini prank in Cancun. I’m a little nervous, but after climbing in the gym with him, the mountain shouldn’t be too difficult, even if he gives me extra slack. I can handle the challenge.
***
We don’t even make it out of New Jersey before my phone buzzes in the middle console. The word DAD flashing in big bold letters.
“Don’t answer that,” Ryke says.
I’m driving. And I disobey his orders, answering the phone and keeping one hand on the wheel. I feel Ryke’s hot glare without taking my eyes off the road.
“Loren.” My father’s voice sounds through the receiver. “I need you to stop by the house sometime today.” His tone is pretty casual, so I figure the topic centers on my new company. It’s barely on its feet, but he loves to add his opinion.
“I’m heading out of town, so I won’t be anywhere near Philly.”