Page 159 of Ink Me Three Times
Freddie doesn’t answer right away. Then, “I thought I’d feel more… I don’t know. Relieved.”
“You are,” I say. “You just don’t recognize it yet.”
He nods once, eyes still on the amber in his glass. “Maybe.”
I think about Penny, her little rain boots by the door, the way she clings to Ivy’s leg when she’s sleepy, the crayon drawings taped to the fridge.
She’ll never know what it cost to keep her safe. And she shouldn’t have to.
That’s the point.
Mitchell raises his glass. “To terrible endings.”
Freddie huffs a laugh. “And better beginnings.”
We clink glasses.
Rain keeps falling.
But this time, something’s finally washed clean.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Ivy
Freddie:Meet us at The Hollow for drinks?
I glance up from my phone to spot them in the back corner of the bar. Freddie, nursing something dark. Mitchell, leaning back with his usualdon't screw with meslouch. Timothy, quiet and watchful, like he’s already ten steps ahead of whatever conversation they’re about to have.
When I slide into the booth, they all look up at once.
“Woah,” Tim laughs. “That was quick.”
I offer him a one shouldered shrug. “Sounded like a fun party.”
Freddie’s the one who answers the unspoken question in the room. “It’s done.”
I blink. “You mean… Trina?”
Iknowthat’s what they were trying to sort today.
He nods. “She signed. Took the check. Walked out.”
I sit back, staring. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah,” Timothy says. “That about covers it.”
I look at Freddie. He’s not gloating. Not celebrating. He looks… tired. Wrung out. Someone who just cut off the last infected limb and is waiting to see if the fever breaks.
“Are you okay?”
He shrugs. “Not really. But Penny is. That’s what matters.”
I nod, slow. There’s nothing to say that doesn’t feel small. So I don’t say anything. Just sip my drink and let the silence be what it is… earned.
The boys drift into lighter topics. Mitchell tells some wild story about a guy who wanted a full chest piece of a velociraptor holding a margarita. Tim corrects the details twice. Freddie chuckles, a real one, but it doesn’t reach all the way.
By the time we’re getting ready to leave, it’s close to midnight and the rain’s turned to a mist that clings to everything.
