Page 73 of Ethan

“Please tell me you had nothing to do with her showing up.”

“I didn’t. I’d never do something like that without talking to you first.”

“She’s staying at the motel in Clifton,” she said. “She wants to see me again before she leaves.”

“What do you want?”

She looked up at him. “I don’t know yet.”

He nodded. “That’s okay.”

She leaned her head back against his chest and he held her tighter.

That evening, they sat on his porch, the last of the summer light fading over the mountains, two glasses of sweet tea on the rail between them.

Naomi had been quiet since her mother left. Not the comfortable quiet he’d gotten used to. This was the kind that had weight to it.

He’d let it sit all afternoon. He couldn’t let it sit anymore.

“Are you going to see her again?” he asked.

Naomi looked out at the pastures. “I don’t know.”

“She came a long way.”

She glanced at him. “I know that.”

“I just mean—” He chose his words carefully. “She made the effort. That counts for something.”

Naomi was quiet for a moment. “Does it?”

“I think so.” He turned his glass on the rail. “I’m not saying what she did was right. It wasn’t. But she’s here now and she’s asking for a chance. That’s not nothing.”

Naomi looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read.

“You think I should see her,” she said.

“I think you might regret it if you don’t at least hear her out.”

“I already heard her out today.”

“I know.” He looked at her. “I just don’t want you to close the door on something you can’t open again later.”

The quiet that followed was a different kind. Naomi set her glass down and looked out at the mountains. He could see something shifting in her expression that he didn’t know how to read.

“You have no idea what it was like,” she said quietly. “Growing up without her.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

“Then maybe don’t tell me what I should do about it.”

It came out soft, but it landed hard.

He opened his mouth and closed it.

She stood up, picked up her glass, and looked at him for a moment.

“I’m going inside,” she said. “I’m tired.”