Chapter 13 - WHEN EVERYONE SHOWED UP
Brandon cried.
Not dramatically.
He sat at the edge of the couch with his face in his hands.
“I don’t know what happened to me.”
I hated that sentence.
Not because it was fake.
Because I believed he meant it.
“I was drowning too,” he said.
I stared at him.
“Then why did only one of us get to leave?”
He looked up.
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
His phone began vibrating on the coffee table.
He ignored it.
It stopped.
Then mine rang.
Linda.
Of course.
I declined it.
Thirty seconds later, the doorbell rang.
Brandon looked toward the door.
“No.”
I almost smiled.
“You called your mother?”
“I texted her from the airport.”
“About what?”
“That things were bad.”
The bell rang again.
Then knocking.
“Audrey?” Linda called. “Honey?”
I opened the door.
Linda swept inside wearing a camel coat and the expression of a woman arriving to manage a problem.
She saw Brandon’s split lip.
“Oh my God.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“What happened?”
“Mason.”
Her eyes widened.
“That animal hit you?”
I folded my arms.
“Because Brandon kissed another woman.”
Linda froze.
Her head slowly turned.
“What?”
“Mom—”
“What did you do?”
Brandon stood.
“It was one kiss.”
Linda slapped his arm.
Not hard.
But enough to surprise all of us.
“You idiot.”
For one glorious second, I thought help had arrived.
Then Linda looked at me.
“But Audrey, marriages survive mistakes.”
There it was.
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She stepped closer.
“You’re both exhausted. New babies are difficult.”
“Linda, he left me alone after I begged him to stay.”
“It was a trip planned long before the twins.”
“He could have canceled.”
Her face shifted.
Very slightly.
I saw it.
“You knew.”
Linda looked at Brandon.
Then at me.
“You knew he could cancel.”
“I knew there were options.”
“And you told me Thursday you couldn’t help because you had lunch and book club.”
“Audrey—”
“You knew your son was leaving me alone with two six-month-old babies.”
“It was four days.”
That sentence.
Again.
Always four days.
As if time mattered more than circumstances.
I stared at her.
“Do you know what happened Thursday night?”
Linda’s confidence weakened.
“No.”
“June choked.”
Her mouth opened.
“I called Brandon twice.”
She looked at him.
“He didn’t call back.”
“That’s not—”
“And Friday I took Sadie to urgent care.”
Linda looked horrified now.
I continued.
“Your son stayed in Tennessee.”
She turned on Brandon.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed?”
He didn’t answer.
Linda sat down slowly.
Dad appeared at the top of the stairs.
Sadie in his arms.
He looked at Linda.
She looked at him.
Recognition.
Discomfort.
History.
Linda whispered, “Richard.”
“Linda.”
She stood.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Dad’s face stayed neutral.
“Audrey asked me to stay.”
“This family doesn’t need outsiders making things worse.”
My father looked at me.
Then back at Linda.
“I’m not part of this conversation.”
He turned toward the stairs.
Linda scoffed.
“You always hated Brandon.”
Dad stopped.
I braced myself.
Seven years ago, this would have exploded.
Instead, Dad said quietly:
“I did.”
Brandon looked up.
Dad continued.
“And my daughter spent seven years not speaking to me because I made her marriage about my opinion.”
His eyes moved to Linda.
“I’m not making that mistake again.”
Then he disappeared upstairs.
Linda stared after him.
I felt something settle inside me.
Not because Dad had defended me.
Because he hadn’t tried to control me.
I looked at Brandon.
“You need to leave tonight.”
He stood.
“What?”
“I need space.”
“This is my house too.”
“I know.”
“I’m not leaving my daughters.”
“You already did.”
He flinched.
“Audrey.”
“I’m not keeping you from them. You can come tomorrow.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
For half a second, I almost answered.
Then stopped.
That wasn’t my problem to solve.
“I don’t know.”
His face fell.
May you like
I picked up his suitcase and pushed it gently toward him.
“You’ll figure it out.”
