Page 66 of Designed for Disaster

“He has love and support,” Nana Dee pointed out. “Because he has us.”

My emotions boiled over. “But if you don’t get treatment, neither Jimmy nor I will have you for much longer,” I bit back.

Dee grew quiet. A muscle in her cheek twitched, and I tried to swallow down my frustration. I hadn’t meant to upset her. “You know my feelings on this.”

“I do,” I said. “But I also see the way it’s wearing on you, and it doesn’t have to. You could have the surgery.”

“I don’t want the surgery.”

“Butthisis what you want? To be exhausted and sick, stuck in bed until the end?” I didn’t want to guilt-trip her into a treatment she’d decided against, but I hated the thought of watching her suffer just as much as I hated the thought of losing her. She was the glue that held our family together—the part of it that mattered, anyway—and I couldn’t believe she was considering going down without a fight. What was I supposed to do without her?

“Trent—” she said, her voice far too calm.

“What the hell do I know about holding this family together?” I said.

She squeezed my hand. “You’ll manage.”

What if I didn’t, though? What if I was just like my parents, and all I managed to do was tear things further apart?

19

NATASHA

“You said this is steampunk, right?”

“Futuristic-tech-meets-steampunk,” I said to Trent, parroting Stacy’s words to me as we followed her and Dominic down the sidewalk. I’d been trying to understand the premise of this play since she’d started making the costumes for the damn thing, but I still wasn’t sure I had it. “…I think.”

Trent wrinkled his nose in response. I could practically hear the grumpy growl he bit down. “Right.”

I could tell exactly what he was thinking by the way his eyebrow arched.No, thank you. If I suggested that we duck into a bar and ditch this double date, he’d totally be on board. I glanced away from him. I wouldn’t need that much convincing, either—I’d rather be doing anything else, but I needed to support Stacy.

Weneeded to support Stacy.

“I swear the play is actually, legitimately good,” Stacy said, twisting around on the sidewalk in front of us. She clutched Dominic’s hand like she was worried he’d run away the firstchance he got. But despite Trent’s reservations and my general lack of enthusiasm, Dominic seemed perfectly content. The way he was staring at her, Stacy could have been dragging him to the longest, most boring play in the history of plays, and he wouldn’t have uttered a word against it.

Dominic really had it bad for her.

I couldn’t help but smile. Stacy deserved a good one after all the crap she’d had to put up with. There might have been plenty of fish in the sea, but prior to Dominic, Stacy only knew how to reel in the slimy ones with spikes.

Dominic was like the prize catch, all big and shiny, and I really hoped this worked out for them.

“At least the costumes will be good if nothing else,” I said to Stacy. She grinned, twisting back around as Dominic said something.

“The things we do for our friends,” Trent muttered, leaning close enough that I could feel his warm breath ghost across my cheek.

I grinned and tightened my jacket against the sharp October wind as we approached the theater, grateful when the gathered crowd moved inside. The little theater was packed—and so freaking warm!—and it was clear the show had gotten some positive buzz. Reviews were posted to the walls on giant signs, but I didn’t put much stake in reviews. I liked to form my own opinions.

“Oh, thank god!” Trent said, yanking me across the lobby. I looked over to see where he was heading. “They have a bar!”

I chuckled as we joined the line.

“I’m not sure alcohol is going to save this,” I said under my breath.

“Well, it can’t possibly make it worse. You think this is one of those shows where they try to engage the audience?”

My eyes widened. I hated shows that broke the fourth wall. The last thing I wanted to do was engage with the actors when I was watching something like this. “God, no. You think?”

Trent grimaced, looking at the bartender. “Better make it a double.”

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