The Forever Girl (Wildstone, #6)(3)

He’d ended up going in a very different direction. Maze wasn’t sure why exactly, but her working theory had always been that he figured giving a shit had never gotten him anywhere, so why try.

“You almost died?” she asked softly.

He looked pained as he swallowed the last of his muffin. “I’m fine.”

“But—”

“Drop it, Maze,” he said in a warning tone that she imagined probably had all the bad guys’ balls retreating north.

She opened her mouth to tell him that very thing, but Heather pointed to the carefully tended gravesite and said quietly, “I love the wildflowers you planted last year, Cat, they’re all blooming now.” Ever their peacemaker. At nineteen, Heather was the youngest and therefore remembered the least about that long-ago night. She’d never been able to process bad stuff, and the rest of them always shielded her the best they could.

Caitlin smiled at Heather, but it wasn’t her usual two-hundred-watt. If Heather was the group’s soul, Caitlin was its heart, and she’d been the closest to Michael. His loss had changed her immeasurably, taking her from sweet and fun loving . . . to sweet and completely, unbendingly bossy and tyrannical with those she loved—quite the combo.

“I was out here last week to pull the weeds,” Cat said, “without using Daddy’s tractor.”

Everyone looked at Maze, who sighed. “One time. Jeez. You borrow”—still holding her fork in one hand and the paper plate in the other, she managed to use air quotes for the word borrow—“a guy’s tractor one time, and no one lets you forget it.”

“That’s because thanks to you, it’s now illegal to drive a tractor without a permit in the state of California,” Walker said.

Maze would’ve sworn she’d heard a dry amusement in his tone, but she couldn’t tell past his dark sunglasses. “That’s a total exaggeration. I didn’t even get arrested.” Though his implication that she’d been wild and impulsive wasn’t exactly wrong.

Caitlin smiled and reached out for both Heather’s and Maze’s hands, waiting for Heather to take Walker’s so they were all connected. “Damn. It’s been what, like two months since we were all together for Heather’s birthday? Missed you guys. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Heather said softly.

“Love you,” Walker murmured in his low baritone without a single beat of hesitation.

There was a beat of silence, and when it wasn’t filled, once again everyone looked at Maze.

“Me too,” she said.

Heather shook her head.

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Walker didn’t react at all.

“What?” Maze said defensively.

“You never say the actual words,” Caitlin said.

“Of course I do.”

“Never,” Heather said.

Fine. She didn’t. But as she’d learned the hard way growing up with an emotionally unavailable mom, no dad, and a few too many foster homes, those three little words held way too much power.

Caitlin eyed her watch and craned her neck to look behind them at the parking lot a good hundred yards back.

“What are you looking for?” Maze asked.

“Mom and Dad should’ve been here by now.”

Maze’s stomach dropped. “You invited them?”

Heather raised her hand. “Actually, that was me. I was checking in with them the other day and I mentioned our annual thing.”

“You mean our secret annual thing?” Maze asked.

“Again,” Heather said slowly and clearly, “I don’t keep secrets anymore. And you know why.”

The cake soured in Maze’s belly. Yeah, she certainly did know why Heather no longer kept secrets. She turned to Caitlin. “Why didn’t you tell me Jim and Shelly were coming?”

At the use of her parents’ first names, annoyance flickered over Caitlin’s face. She probably thought Maze was still mad at them, but that wasn’t it. It was more that she felt like she didn’t deserve to call them Mom and Dad.

“I didn’t tell you they were coming,” Cat said, “because I knew then you wouldn’t.”

Was she that stubborn? Unfortunately, yes. “It should’ve been my choice to make, not yours.” And great, now her voice was trembling. “You don’t get to boss me around and make choices for me anymore.” It was a low blow and she knew it. But she wasn’t sweet like Heather, and she sure as hell couldn’t be rational like Caitlin.

“Michael was their son,” Cat said. “Their baby.”

See? Rational. “Believe me,” Maze said, chest too tight to breathe. “I get that.”

Disappointment joined the annoyance on Caitlin’s face. “You know that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that they have every right to be here at their son’s grave.”

While Maze did not have that same right. Got it. She started to stand up, but Caitlin tugged on her arm. “Don’t you dare go. They’ll want you to be here. And Michael would want that too.”

“Did you ask them?” Maze met her gaze. “Or is this a complete surprise for them as well?”

Caitlin winced, giving her away. Dammit. Maze shook her head.

“See, this is why it’s easier to not be part of a family.”