Darren pulls me back into his lap. “Calm down, firefly.”

“I don’t think I can.” Shit. I’m at risk of hyperventilating. And all I want to do is simultaneously eat all of those candies and flush them down the toilet.

He kisses me softly. “Take a deep breath and listen to me, okay, Charlene?”

I nod and do as he asks, sucking in as much oxygen as my lungs will allow, then breathing my weed-candy breath in his face.

“You said you’ve been eating those as long as you can remember?”

“Since I was a teenager, I guess?”

He tucks a few hairs behind my ear, tracing the shell with his fingertips. They’re softer than usual because he’s not training as hard.

“So you’ve been eating these every single day for the past decade?”

He picks up the discarded candy from the coffee table. Peeling it off the wrapper, he holds it to my lips. “I think you should eat this.”

My mouth waters in anticipation. “Oh, God. I’m an addict.”

“It’s just weed, Charlene. It’s not like you’ve been shooting heroin your entire life, but I wouldn’t suggest quitting cold turkey. It might be a good idea to cut down a little, though.” He taps my lips, and I open my mouth, allowing him to pop the candy back in.

I feel instantly better, which I realize is not possible.

“Okay, so tell me about these candies. Your mother’s been making them since you were a teenager?” Darren rearranges me so I’m straddling his lap, facing him.

I think back to when it all started. “Earlier than that. When we were at The Ranch, we grew all our own food. We had greenhouses, and there were some I wasn’t allowed in, but I caught a few glimpses here and there. Harvest time was always busy. My mom would be gone all day and sometimes late at night. Then they’d make candies and box them all up, and trucks would come and take them away. Jesus . . .” I pause for a moment, remembering very clearly the night we escaped. “When we left the compound, my mom had a car waiting for us, and we had three backpacks—two of them filled with candies and some money, and the other had my stuff. That’s how we survived until she found a job.”

“That was pretty resourceful and a lot fucked up.”

“This is crazy.” I can’t believe I’ve been eating weed candies for years and didn’t know it, and that my mom failed to mention it.

“Do you think they’re still making those candies?” Darren asks.

“Yes. Definitely. There was a box of them on my front porch on my birthday. I thought it was a birthday present from you, so I left them on my counter and finally opened them the other day. I was going to throw them away on garbage day because there’s no way I’d ever eat anything from The Ranch, but I haven’t had a chance yet. Let me get them.”

I find them in the garage and bring them back to the living room. Darren opens the box and peeks inside. My mom’s candies have a tiny logo on the wrapper. I’d never thought anything of it until I note the letters stamped on these mint green wrappers. Darren unwraps a candy, inspecting it.

He looks up at me. “If I’m right about any of this, we might’ve found a way to get rid of Frank.”

DARREN

When I look back on the night I met Charlene, I don’t think I ever would’ve pegged her for a pothead who was raised in a commune, but then people only let you see what they want you to, until they take their masks off.

Still, this is the kind of thing they base reality TV shows on. In fact, if they haven’t already, I’d be surprised.

“I should call Robbie,” I tell Charlene.

She looks a hell of a lot shell-shocked. I can’t say she doesn’t have a right, considering she just found out she’s been carrying around illegal narcotics in the form of candies for over a decade. And that her mother is a manufacturer of weed edibles, and may very well be a dealer.

I call Alex to see if his dad is around. They’ve been visiting Chicago a lot lately with Sunny and Violet both being pregnant.

“Yeah, man, my dad’s here. What’s up? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, things are okay. I have some questions for him, though. Would it be okay if Charlene and I stopped by?” I check the time. It’s the middle of the afternoon.

“You’re with Charlene?”

“I am.”

“That’s good news. And yeah, of course you can come over—both of you, obviously. Miller and Sunny are here with Logan, and Skye and Sidney are supposed to be over soon for a barbeque. We’re all hanging out by the pool, so bring a suit.”

“Great. Thanks. We’ll be by in a bit.”

Charlene packs a beach bag with a bathing suit and changes into a lavender sundress, with my help, of course. She seems to be on autopilot, which isn’t all that surprising. We take my car to Alex’s place with the box of candies from The Ranch and a few of the ones her mom makes, for comparison’s sake.

Violet meets us at the front door. She looks from me to Charlene and cocks a brow. “Please tell me this means I don’t have to stop at Krispy Kreme tomorrow.”

“No more trips to Krispy Kreme,” Charlene replies with an embarrassed smile.

“I’m glad that’s over, because it was getting awkward. The same kid works every morning, and he was starting to remember my order.” She rubs her still mostly flat belly. “So does this mean you’re officially back together?”

Charlene looks up at me, so I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side. She feels good there, right, like she fits. “Even better. I dropped the L-bomb on her.”

Violet does some weird little dance and shakes her hands around in the air. It almost looks like a toddler who has to pee. “It’s about fucking time! We all knew you two loved each other. I’d say I don’t understand why it took so long to figure it out, but considering how screwed up you both are, I’m just glad you got there without turning into Bonnie and Clyde and going on a murder spree.”

“It could still happen,” I deadpan.

Violet points a finger in my face. “Don’t do that. Remember, I’m the one who knows how not-sinister you really are, so that face isn’t going to work on me. Also, I’m prone to nightmares at this stage in my pregnancy, and I would appreciate it if that didn’t include my best friend starring in them as some kind of female version of Dexter.”

“You’re the one who mentioned murder sprees.”

“Right. Okay. Topic officially dropped. Come on in. Alex and Miller are trying to teach Logan how to use a hockey stick. The poor kid has barely mastered walking.” She shakes her head and motions for us to follow her to the backyard.

Logan seems more interested in hitting Miller in the shins and smashing flowers than the red foam puck they keep pointing out, but he seems entertained, if nothing else.

Sunny’s reclined in a lounger with Daisy and Skye on either side of her. Their conversation comes to a halt when they notice us, and I realize Charlene probably hasn’t seen them since her birthday. I lean in and press my lips to her temple.

“Don’t worry, firefly, they love you exactly as much as they did before, if not more.”

She tips her chin up, eyes meeting mine. “How did you happen to me?”

“I believe your best friend hooked up with my best friend, which likely wouldn’t have happened had Alex not won a bet and room to himself.”

“I remember Violet telling me about that. What was the bet, anyway?”

“Who could come up with the longest word in an online game of Scrabble.”

“Seriously? I expected something so much more . . . interesting.”

“It was a long bus ride. We were bored. Alex got lightning. It was impressive.” I press a kiss to her perfect lips, promising myself we’re going to make out later. For hours. Like teenagers.

I step back as Skye and Daisy converge on Charlene. Sunny’s still working on sitting upright. She’s looking really pregnant these days.

“Darren!” Robbie motions me over to where he and Sidney are sitting in the shade, watching their sons be dads.

“They’re starting early, huh?” I nod to Alex and Miller.

“Pretty sure Miller thinks Logan’s going to be drafted by the time he’s in pre-school,” Sidney says with a smile.

Alex takes a break from getting slammed in the shins with the hockey stick to grab me a beer. “Everything okay?” He glances over at Charlene who’s corralled in a corner with Sunny, Violet, and the moms.

“With Charlene? Yeah. We figured it all out. Just took me getting my head out of ass to make it happen.”

“That’s good. Vi was worried about both of you this week.”

“So was I, but I think we’ve got it all sorted. She’s agreed to move in with me, which I’m taking as a good sign.”

Alex’s eyebrows pop up. “Whoa, that’s a big step.”

I nod and rock back on my heels. “Yeah. It’s about time, right?”

He laughs. “It really is.”

“Thanks for sticking by me. I know I’m not the easiest person to understand, but I don’t think Charlene and I would be where we are if it wasn’t for you.”