Page 48 of Heal For Me

I glance down at Todd still sitting so well, but his tail is wagging. “Do you have anything for dogs?”

“Of course we do!” She claps, obviously excited by this. I can’t help but to match her grin.

“Then, yes, please.”

She busies herself with getting our orders, and I step back from the counter, allowing others to look. This place is busy for being one p.m. on a Wednesday.

“You didn’t correct her,” Jethro states.

“Neither did you,” I throw back, giving him the same side-eye he is giving me. Looking back, I have no idea how I didn’t make a connection of us being family. The woman is right, we look very similar. Especially with my hair slicked back in two boxer braids and his slicked back. Same bone structure, same eye shape. My features are feminine, but it’s uncanny. I look more like him than his own son; Jason favors our mom’s looks.

“Good job on the order, by the way.”

I smile with pride. Not like it was that hard, who doesn’t like a vanilla cupcake? And Jethro is a traditional man, so a black coffee seemed the most logical.

“Here you two are,” the woman says as she slides a small tray over with our order. Her face stretches with a friendly smile. “I hope you enjoy, and you come back now, alright?”

“I love cupcakes, so you can count on it.” I laugh.

Uncle Jet grabs the tray since I’m in a brace and have Todd, and we make our way across the semibusy building to Janelle sitting in a booth. Her brownie is gone but she’s still working on her drink.

“This place is fantastic, right?”

I slip into the booth next to her, and Todd takes his usual spot under my feet, enjoying the puppy cake Jethro placed down for him. I can’t believe I went so long without a dog. He is the best company, distraction, friend. He’s simply the best. Ash mentioned he considered getting me a puppy but figured that could wait until we live together. I agreed, a puppy might be too much responsibility right now. It feels like Todd is often taking care of me instead of vice versa.

“So cute. I can’t wait to eat my cupcake.”

The pink cupcake wrapper is as cute as the rest of the place. I almost hate to throw it away. I bring the cupcake to my mouth but first suck in a deep breath to smell the sweetness. The flavors explode in my mouth. You wouldn’t think a vanilla cupcake could be all that good, but they can. I’ve had many flavors of cupcakes over the years, but vanilla is always the best. Especially when it’s made with real vanilla like I know these are.

I swallow my first bite and look up to ask Jethro how his is, but it’s gone. He chews as if he ate the entire thing in one bite. My eyes widen.

“That good?” Janelle snorts. I bite back my laughter, but his face deepens in color. He takes a swig of his coffee and dabs his face with a napkin.

“Are you always a pain in the ass?”

Janelle slaps her chest, really putting on a show for him. “I am an angel.”

“A fallen one, maybe.” He huffs before flicking his eyes my way. “You couldn’t have picked better friends?”

I shrug. “Nope. Small school.”

“I beg your pardon!” She gasps. A few people glance our way, but she pays no attention and neither do I. I’m used to people looking at us when we are in public because neither of us care to not act like ourselves for the sake of others’ judgement. Jethro, however, seems mortified from the attention. I secretly enjoy his mortification, to see such a hard-ass man who wears suits and is covered in ink get embarrassed from two teenage girls, is comical.

After I finish my cupcake, Jethro takes care of our garbage, and when he walks back to the table, he doesn’t sit down. It hits me that we aren’t just here for a visit. It slipped my mind why I’m here when Janelle came around. She makes me forget a lot of the bad things, because it’s nearly impossible to be in a bad mood when she’s around.

“Ready?”

Emotion pricks at the back of my throat. Like Jethro can see it, he offers a hand, and when I take it, he helps me up and lowers his voice. “You can change your mind at anytime, kid.”

I could. I could say no and that I wanted to go home, or I could stay for a vacation and visit with Janelle, but what will get solved? My issues haven’t gone away on their own yet, and I don’t think they will magically go away without any outside assistance. Right now, I seem okay, but what about when my bad days and moments happen? Will I still crave a blade when I’m thirty? Is Ash always going to need to keep an eye on me because I’m unstable? No, I refuse to live a life like that.

I don’t want to be broken anymore.

Standing up straight, I lay a hand on Todd and pet him, knowing I can’t be the best owner I can be if I don’t heal.

“Putting off the inevitable doesn’t stop it from coming.”

He dips his chin, but I sense the hint of pride when he says, “I support whatever your choices may be.”

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