Oh boy.

“—I’ve got this,” she said. “I know what I’m doing.” But they both knew she had no idea what she was doing.

That night, Elle and Willa dragged Pru out for “ladies’” night.

They surprised her when they ended up at a lovely spa, snacking on cute little sandwiches and tea before deciding on their individual treatments.

Pru stared at the spa’s menu, a little panicked over the luxury that she couldn’t really afford.

“It’s my treat,” Elle said, covering the prices with her hand. “This was my idea. I owe Willa a birthday present.”

Willa smiled. “Cuz I can’t afford it either.”

“But it’s not my birthday,” Pru said.

“Pretend,” Elle said. “I want a mani/pedi and a Brazilian, and I don’t like to primp alone.”

Which is how Pru ended up with a mani/pedi and her very first Brazilian.

The next day it rained all day long. Pru joked to Jake that after eight long hours on the water—in the rain—she felt like Noah.

Jake felt no mercy at all. “Make the money now, chica. Come wintertime you’ll be whining like Thor does for that mini chow across the street, the one who’s got fifty pounds on him and would squash him like a grape if given the chance.”

So she worked.

At the end of another crazy day, she changed out of her uniform into a sundress and left Pier 39. She was Thor-less. After a stunt where he’d rolled in pigeon poo for some mysterious reason that only made sense to himself, Jake had once again taken him to the South Bark Mutt Shop for grooming.

All Pru wanted to do was to go home and crawl into her bed. For once she was too tired to even dream about having Finn in that bed with her. She wouldn’t be able to lift a finger. Or a tongue.

Not that she’d mind if he insisted on doing all the work . . .

But that fantasy would have to wait. She had an errand to run before getting home, hence the sundress. She wanted to look nice for her weekly visit.

She walked up the steps to the home where her grandpa lived and signed in to see him.

Michelle, the front desk receptionist waved at her. Michelle had worked there forever, so they were old friends.

“How is he today?” Pru asked her.

Michelle’s easy smile faded. “Not gonna lie, it’s a rough one, honey. He’s agitated. He didn’t like his lunch, he didn’t like the weather, he didn’t like wearing pants, the list goes on. He’s feeling mean as a snake. You want to come back another day?”

But they both knew that the bad days far outweighed the good ones now, so there was no use in waiting or she might never see him. “I’ll be fine.”

Michelle nodded, eyes warm, mouth a little worried. “Holler if you need anything.”

Pru took a deep breath, waved at Paul the orderly in the hallway, and entered her grandpa’s room.

He was watching Jeopardy! and yelling at the TV. “Who is Queen Victoria, you jackass!” He picked up his cane and waved that too. “Who is Queen Victoria!”

“Hi, grandpa,” Pru said.

“No one ever listens to me,” he went on, dropping his cane to shake his fist at the TV. “No one ever listens.”

Pru moved into his line of sight and picked up the cane for him, wondering if he would know her today. “It’s me, Pru—”

“You,” he snapped, narrowing his eyes on her, snatching the cane from her hands. “You’ve got some nerve coming here, Missy, into my home.”

“It’s good to see you, Grandpa. You sound good, your cold’s gone from last week, huh? How are you feeling?”

“I’m not telling you shit. You were a terrible influence on my son. You encouraged him to be a good time, to party, when you knew—” He jabbed the cane at her for emphasis. “It’s your fault he’s dead. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

This hit her hard but she did her best to ignore the hurtful words. “Grandpa, it’s Prudence.” She purposely kept her voice low and calm so that maybe he would do the same.

No go.

“Oh I knew who you are. I knew you for what you were the first day I saw you,” he said, “when Steven first brought you home. He said ‘this is Vicky and I love her,’ and I took one look into your laughing eyes and I knew. All you wanted to do was have fun and you didn’t care what fell by the wayside. Well, I’ll tell you what, our business fell by the wayside because he wanted to spend time with you, not that you even noticed. Our business went into the ground because of you, because you didn’t care if he had to work—”