Page 236 of Taken Away

“She just…” She swallowed. “She loved being whoever she was dating more than she loved being anybody’s mother.”

Bennett's grip shifted on the wheel, but he still said nothing.

“That sounds cruel.”

“It sounds honest.”

Aubrey looked at him then.

His eyes stayed on the road.

“She moved us every time she fell in love,” Aubrey said. “New apartment. New school. New man. New version of herself. And every time, she’d tell me this one was different.”

She laughed softly, but there was no humor in it.

Bennett kept his eyes on the road.

"I got really good at packing," she said softly. "And really good at waiting."

"Waiting?"

"School offices. Dance recitals. Birthday parties. Outside movie theaters. Eventually, you stop wondering if they're coming...and start wondering how long you should pretend you aren't hurt."

Bennett looked over then.

Aubrey tried to smile.

He reached across the console and took her hand.

Aubrey looked down at their joined fingers.

“She could be wonderful,” she whispered. “That was the worst part.”

Bennett’s thumb moved once across her knuckles.

“When she was there, really there, she made you feel like the only person in the world. And then she’d disappear again without ever leaving the room.”

The lights appeared through the trees.

Aubrey’s voice dropped.

“So when people ask why I don’t trust her…”

“They haven’t earned the right to ask,” Bennett said.

She looked at him.

He pulled into the drive and cut the engine.

For a moment, they sat in the dark.

Then he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers.

Aubrey closed her eyes.

Inside the house, Moose greeted them at the door, tail thumping heavily against the wall. Bennett let him out, then back in. Aubrey took off her shoes near the couch and stood there, suddenly unsure what to do with herself.

Bennett locked the door.