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And her face is his, too.
It’s his mom. There’s no denying it. How could I not have seen it before? It’s not just a vague familial resemblance. It’s so obvious. So clear.
He’s frozen at the door, staring down at her, trembling so subtly it’s like a vibration.
“Will,” she tries, looking up into his face with an expression that shifts between desperate and awed. He’s definitely not the toddler she left behind. “If I could just—”
“No.”
I don’t want to leave his side, but this is too personal. The twins shouldn’t be watching. I’m not sureIshould be watching, but I don’t think he should be alone, either.
Mia and Ben look at me with wide eyes as I approach the table and lean down to them. “I need you guys to go upstairs for a little while. Everything’s fine, but Will’s having a private conversation. I’ll let you know when it’s time to eat, okay?”
They don’t argue. I go back to Will and put my arm back at his waist.
“Will, please,” his mother says.
“I don’t have anything for you.”
“There’s nothing—I don’t want anything.”
“You’re standing here. That means you want something. And I don’t have anything for you. I don’t want to talk to you.”
“But I can—”
“You can’t do anything.” He’s sharp with her. Vicious. The playfulness he’d let out at the beach is locked away, and if I were her, I’d think he looked terrifying. “There’s absolutelynothingyou can do, except leave.”
“I did, and—”
“And that was yourchance.You don’t get another one. Who gave you the idea that you deserve another chance?”
She glances at me, confusion in her eyes, and I feel sick with the guilt of getting this so wrong. “She said—”
“Don’t look at her. She has nothing to do with this.”
“Please.”
“What are you not getting?I don’t want this.”
It’s hurting him to look at her. I can feel it coming off him, the tension moving from his body into mine. I have no idea how she found out we were here. Still, I’m partially responsible for this. I encouraged her without knowing what she was talking about. I thought she might be estranged from a child, but I couldn’t place her age. It didn’t occur to me that she could be looking for Will.
I should have known.
Maybe I should just give up,she’d said.
No, don’t do that. I can tell you care about this person you’re thinking of. People need that. To be cared for. So don’t give up.
I said those things. I gave her hope. It’s backfired spectacularly. There’s no way Will can talk to her right now. Not with her arrival shaking him like this.
Will won’t back down, either. He fights to the bitter end. He’s working up to a knockout hit, and not with his fists. He’ll keep talking until she withers where she stands.
I don’t want that. I don’t want him to say things he’ll regret later, even if he really doesn’t want to speak to her ever again.
If there’s any chance for peace for either of them, I’m the one who has to end this encounter.
So I take a deep breath and step in front of him. I take her by the arm and guide her out toward the driveway and into the sun. Her eyes catch the light, and I want to shake my past self for not noticing. Not noticingenough,really. I thought she looked familiar. I just didn’t bother trying to figure out why.
A beat-up car is waiting at the end of the long driveway. She has a way to get out of here.
