Page 31 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
“Yep. The cages are secure, and they were all pretty quiet when I checked on them. Blankets are still in place. Are we dropping them off now or doing another house?”
Depending on how full the truck got and how close the next house was, sometimes we made a faerie sanctuary drop inbetween homes, and other times, we collected more faeries and filled the truck to the brim.
He sighed. “There’s a house three streets over with a gnome problem. Oh, you helped set the traps last week, so you’ll recognize it as soon as you see it. Anyway, I think we should collect them, set new traps there, and then go to the sanctuary before calling it a day.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
He sent me a glare, but he shook his head in amusement. “You always have to be calling me something weird or annoying.”
I snorted. “Um… thanks? I think?”
He laughed and gave me a small push before pulling into traffic.
My phone buzzed with a text, so I pulled it out and saw that it was a number I didn’t recognize. I opened it so I could easily dismiss whatever ad or coupon it was, but I froze at the sight of the first words.
Unknown Number: Hey, Winter, it’s Magnolia.
My heart felt like it got stuck somewhere up in my throat. Magnolia? Maggie was texting me?
I… I hadn’t heard from her since before I went to prison. She hadn’t even come to my trial.
I took a deep breath and tried my best to gather the strength to read the rest of the text.
Unknown Number: Hey, Winter, it’s Magnolia. I know we haven’t spoken in a long time, so I hope this is still your number, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to meet me for lunch? I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance to apologize and maybe catch up.
Tears burned my eyes, and I couldn’t help the sniffle that came out.
“Holy crap, are you crying?” Miles pulled over and parked the car without waiting for an answer from me. “Win? What’s wrong?”
The concern in his voice made my eyes shoot up to his. “My… my little sister texted me.”
His jaw clenched. “What’d she say? Whatever it is, you can just ignore it because your family doesn’t know what they’re missing out on—”
“No, it’s… it’s good. I think. She wants to meet up for lunch.”
His eyes searched mine for a long moment. “Yeah? You think she’ll be… nice to you?”
I didn’t blame him for asking. My entire family abandoned me when I got arrested. Maggie and I were always super close, so her betrayal had hit the hardest, even more so than our parents’. Them, I’d expected, but my little sister? I hadn’t expected that at all. Other than Lyric, she’d been my closest friend growing up since we were the closest in age. Our other siblings had always been a lot more like Mom and Dad, but Maggie had been like me.
Or so I’d thought.
I passed Miles the phone so he could read her text. After he finished, he handed it back and sent me a cautious smile. “What do you think? Do you want to meet with her?”
I pushed my hair out of my face. “I… do. I haven’t seen her in years, and we were always so close as kids. I… I’d like to at least hear what she has to say.”
He grabbed my hand with his gloved one and squeezed. “That’s great, Win.”
“Will you come with me?”
His eyes widened in shock for a moment before he nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
“I… I’d like to say that she’d never ask me to meet her just to be an asshole to me, but the truth is that I really don’t know. I never would’ve thought she’d take Mom and Dad’s side wheneverything went down, and I don’t really know her anymore. I… if she… if she’s not… nice, then I think… I think I’m going to need… you.”
His gaze softened, and he leaned over the console to pull me into a hug. Two months ago, hell, three weeks ago, Miles never would’ve initiated a hug like this, so knowing he was comfortable enough with me to do it now made my heart happy, even when I was terrified about what Maggie wanted.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime, Win. Anytime.”
