“Abby?” my mother screeched into the phone, and for a moment, I regretted showing them how to set up caller ID. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Although I seriously considered selling Isaac out, just to take some of the pressure off my own news. “I broke up with Brian last night, and I just thought you guys should know.”

“Oh, honey, what happened?”

“She broke up with Brian,” my father snapped in his groggy voice. “If I can hear her, why can’t you?” He wasn’t gracious about having his sleep interrupted for anything less than death or dismemberment.

Springs groaned over the line as my mother got out of bed, making irritated clucking noises at my father. “I meant to ask why you broke up with Brian,” she said as her footsteps transitioned from carpet in the bedroom to the creaky floorboards in the second floor hall. “He’s a really nice young man.”

“Yes, he is, but I don’t love him. I don’t ache to see him, and I don’t want him to touch me, and—”

“Well, honey, that could take some time after…” Her voice trailed into nothing. She meant well, but she was never really able to talk about what happened to me in that cage.

“Mom it’s been some time, and that hasn’t changed.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean you can’t marry him. There’s more to a marriage than sex, and lots of women don’t really like it, so—”

“Mom, please listen to me.” I exhaled slowly, fighting for patience. “This isn’t about sex. I like sex. I just don’t like Brian.”

“Well, hon, who on earth did you have sex with?” She said it just like that. As if we were discussing my preference for one tomato sauce over the other, and I might be able to suggest a new recipe.

It was kind of weird.

“Um, I’m actually with Jace now.”

“You’re with…”

When a familiar door squealed open, I realized that she hadn’t moved far enough from their bedroom. And that my father had only been feigning disinterest. “Did she just say she’s with Jace?”

“She did say Jace, and she says she likes sex.”

“Oh, good Lord, Mom, tell Dad to go back to bed.” I could already feel my face flaming. “This conversation is awkward enough already.”

“I can’t go back to bed after that!” my father blustered, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“Okay, listen. All you two really need to know is that I gave Brian’s ring back, and I…I think I love Jace.”

“You what?” my father demanded.

My mother sighed. “Well, we’ll have to order a larger groom’s tux, but unless Jace has an aversion to chocolate cake or lilies, all the other wedding preparations should be fine. I’ll call the tux shop after breakfast.”

I had to fight the urge to pull out my own hair. “Before you do that, Mom, call Isaac. He has something to tell you.” I hung up my phone and threw it straight at Jace’s pillows.

ELEVEN

Jace

“I swear, Melody’s going to put me in an early grave.” With every word I spoke, my foot fell heavier on the gas pedal. Which was bad, because my Pathfinder was already chewing up the narrow backroad faster than the Tasmanian Devil on speed, in spite of the sun glaring in my eyes and the sharp, winding curves.

In the car behind us, Lucas was having trouble keeping up. I’d decided he should drive separately with Teo and Warner to give him time to adjust to my new relationship with his sister without having to see it up close and personal. After the uproar with Melody, I knew exactly what it felt like to discover that one of your friends has had his hands all over your sister.

Not that Isaac and Melody had anything in common with Abby and me. Ours was a much more mature and acceptable connection. In ways I couldn’t put into words when Abby had asked me to. Many, many indescribable ways.

“She’s just growing up, Jace.” Abby’s pulse raced as trees flew by on either side of the car, an irregular blur of dark green, casting shadows over the narrow road. She clutched the armrest. “Could you please slow down?”

I lifted my foot from the gas pedal, and the truck behind us swelled in the mirror until Lucas slowed to match our speed.

“Seriously, though,” she continued, “you can’t tell me that I’m old enough to make my own decisions, then deny her the same opportunity. She’s an adult. Just like I am.”

“You’ve never been as young as she is at this very moment.” Melody was not ready to make major life decisions, and Isaac was damn well old enough to know better. And they’d gone behind my back! In my own house!

Yet Abby seemed perfectly calm about the whole thing. “It’s not fair to compare me with your sister,” she insisted. “She and I have led entirely different lives. And even if she’s a little immature now, becoming a mother will change that.”

“I wanted life to change that.” I punched the steering wheel, and Abby winced as if her own fist hurt. “I wanted Melody to have a chance to grow up on her own before there was a baby.” I’d spent years trying to undo what Calvin had done to his only daughter—trying to show her that she had options. And she’d just thrown the whole thing away.

“Well, that’s not your choice to make, and she’s made hers,” Abby said, as a road sign sped by. “The best thing you can do is support her. She knows what she wants, which is more than a lot of girls her age can claim. Besides, having a baby doesn’t mean she can’t still do other things. Look at Faythe. She’s on baby number two, and she’s running a whole Pride.”

“Melody isn’t Faythe.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. She’s hardheaded and she knows exactly what she wants. Sounds like Faythe to me.”

A growl rumbled up from my throat. “You’re manipulating the facts.”

“And you’re manipulating her. You’re giving your sister all the choices in the world except the one she wants. That’s you trying to run her life for her, which is no better than what Cal was doing.” I growled again, but she spoke over me. “If you could set aside your own ego for a second, you’d see that I’m right.”