Chapter 11 - THE HOUSE WAS QUIET
Sunday felt like waiting for a storm.
I changed sheets.
Not because they needed changing.
Because I needed something to do with my hands.
I folded laundry.
Cleaned the kitchen.
Packed the diaper bag.
Dad watched me for a while.
Finally he said, “You’re scrubbing an already clean counter.”
“I know.”
“Want to talk?”
“No.”
“Good talk.”
At noon, Brandon texted.
Boarding.
At 4:07:
Landed.
At 4:22:
Getting bag.
At 4:35:
Audrey?
I didn’t respond.
Not to punish him.
I just had nothing left to say by text.
Dad fed June.
I fed Sadie.
At 5:18, a car pulled into the driveway.
My pulse jumped.
Dad looked at me.
“You want me upstairs?”
“No.”
“You want me to leave?”
“No.”
“You want me to say anything?”
I thought carefully.
“No.”
He nodded.
That was all.
We heard the trunk of a car close.
Footsteps.
Keys.
The lock turned.
Brandon entered.
One step.
Two.
Three.
His suitcase slipped from his hand.
Dad was sitting in Brandon’s favorite recliner.
June slept against his chest.
Sadie was curled inside the bassinet.
Brandon stared.
“Who the hell is that?”
Dad lifted his head.
Brandon’s face changed.
“You.”
“Hello, Brandon.”
Brandon looked at me.
“What is he doing here?”
“Helping.”
His eyes snapped back to Dad.
“With my kids?”
“Your kids needed help.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
I saw the old man.
The one who would have exploded.
But he looked down at June instead.
Then said calmly:
“You’re right.”
Brandon blinked.
Dad carefully stood, supporting June’s head.
He walked toward me.
“Where do you want her?”
“I’ve got her.”
He transferred June into my arms.
Then he looked at Brandon.
“This is between you and your wife.”
For some reason, that made Brandon angrier.
“You’ve been waiting seven years for this.”
Dad stopped.
“For what?”
“To turn her against me.”
I almost laughed.
“Brandon.”
He looked at me.
“My father didn’t turn me against you.”
“He hated me before we got married.”
“This isn’t about seven years ago.”
“Then why is he here?”
“Because when I called him at two in the morning and said I needed help, he came.”
Brandon’s mouth closed.
“He drove ninety minutes in the middle of the night.”
“Audrey—”
“You were five hundred miles away.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
His shoulders dropped slightly.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what happened Friday night.”
Silence.
Dad moved toward the hallway.
Brandon looked at him.
“What did you tell her?”
Dad stopped again.
“Nothing.”
“Mason?”
I watched realization spread across Brandon’s face.
Then fear.
Not fear of my father.
Fear of the truth.
“Did Mason call you?”
“Yes.”
Brandon looked at me.
“Audrey, listen to me.”
I held June tighter.
“Did you kiss Leah?”
His face went pale.
Dad closed his eyes.
May you like
And Brandon whispered:
“Yes.”
