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Broken not merely because she’d been blown up on a rutted Afghan road. Broken also because everything she’d worked for, humble as it was, rested on shifting sand.
She lifted her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. But she couldn’t lift her head.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said to her plate. “I need to go now.”
“Phoebe, wait!” Duncan said and tried to catch her arm.
She snatched it out of his reach. “Fuck you, Duncan,” she snapped quietly, shoving tears back down deep.
“Baby, please—I just want to help. I want to help you.”
She ignored him and fled that happy home as quickly as she could.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Oh. My. God.” Hannah said, gaping at Duncan. “You are a moron. You’re like the king of the morons.”
Duncan ignored her and jumped from his seat. Before he could take more than a step in the direction that Phoebe had literally run, his mom said, “Duncan, sit down.”
She’d used her mom voice, and even now, years after he’d become an adult, his whole body clenched at the sound.
“Mom, I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. She’s trying to get away from you. Don’t chase. Sit.”
The front door slammed. Phoebe was out of the house. How could he just let her go? She’d think he didn’t care enough to go after her!
Needing another opinion, he looked to his sister. Kelsey’s expression was wide open with shock, but when she saw the question on his face, she nodded and mouthed, Sit.
He sat.
“You really fucked up, my guy,” Hannah said with gleeful awe.
“Fuck off, swamp rat,” Duncan muttered. He set his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands.
“Maybe I didn’t hear things clear enough,” Dad said, “But I got no idea what just happened.”
