She said it like a decision already made, and I'd learned enough in three weeks to know that when Mia's voice went that quiet, arguing with her wasn't going to change the outcome. It was only going to change whether she let me stand beside her while she did it.
"Not alone," I said.
"I didn't say alone."
"You said tomorrow, and I doubt you have a plan, that's a door you're about to walk through without knowing what's on the other side of it." I kept my voice even, not pushing, just laying it out the way I'd promised her I would from now on. "I want to be there, not to speak for you. Just there."
She looked at me for a long moment, and something in her expression softened at the edges, the particular give she allowed herself only with me, only lately. "Okay," she said.
Rhea watched the
