I grabbed the steering wheel and took a deep, shaking breath.
My phone rang, and I felt a flash of guilt, as if whoever was calling knew exactly what I’d been thinking of doing.
My shaking hands fumbled it out of my pocket.
Dylan.
I wiped the tears off my face, straightened up, and forced my voice to sound normal. “Yes, honey,” I said.
“Grandma,” he said in a somber voice. And somehow I already knew what would come next.
“Dad is missing again.”
I sighed.
“I think he’s at Bubbles and Brews again,” Dylan added.
I nodded as if he could see me. Out of all of us, Brian had handled everything the worst. Instantly falling back into toxic coping mechanisms. And the fact that most of his HVAC clients had canceled jobs didn’t help.
“Where’s Anna?” I asked, trying to sound strong and unalarmed.
“She left a few hours ago. She doesn’t want to babysit for us anymore. You know.”
Yes. I did. I knew exactly what he meant. The murder family that nobody wanted to babysit for.
The younger kids were doing okay in school since they were shielded from adult gossip. Dylan, on the other hand, had a few incidents. He stood up to any bullying with his fists. And at six feet two, with his athletic build, he won. Plus, the girls at his school gave him support—mostly because they were in love with him. Just like his father, he was incredibly handsome. That gift would always give him an advantage in life.
But, at the end of the day, we were all alone.
I wiped my face dry with a napkin from my to-go lunch sitting on the passenger seat.
“I’ll go get him, then come straight home.”
Dylan was silent on the other end.
“What is it, sweetie?” I asked.
“How did it go with Mom?” he asked.
The unbearable pain almost took me out again.
Poor baby.
He would lose his mother.
How could I tell him that?
I steadied myself as best I could. For him. He needed me more than ever.
“It went good!” Fake happy. “She held the phone to her ear all by herself this time.”
“Really?” He sounded hopeful.
“Yes. And remember—I got the power of attorney. I can talk to everyone at the jail now and make sure they’ll take care of her. I enrolled her in the choir and even arranged for her to sit in some of the group therapy sessions with the others. To get her out of the cell, you know.”
“Yeah, that’s good.”
“Well, honey, can you feed the kids, and I’ll go get your dad?”
