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“‘Course it is. I’ve never been wrong yet.” Mabel smiles. “You know what helps?” She waits a beat, then finishes, “Talking about her.”
“I tried. Idotry. But Dad gets really upset whenever she comes up. So I mostly just stopped trying. I guess it took too much out of me to try to get him to open up. And if he won’t talk about it…there’s only one person left who loved her like I did.”
“Your sister,” Mabel supplies.
I nod. “She was there. She’s always been there. That’s what family does. That’s why I’m doing this.”
She sighs and rubs her eyes with the heel of her hand. “It’s your bed, honey,” is all she says. “You’re the one who’s got to lie in it.”
16
TAYLOR
I hoist Adam onto my hip and spin around the room with him. He walked in on me halfway in the middle of getting dressed, so I’m managing this in just my shorts and bra.
“Blech,” I groan. “Adam, baby, I’m getting dizzy.”
“One more time, Mama!” he squeals.
“Fine, fine, you little monster,” I tease breathlessly, adjusting my hold on him and circling on the spot. “Three, two, one…blast off!”
I spin faster and faster until we collapse back onto the bed. Adam laughs hysterically, his little hands clinging to my neck. I catch my breath and stare up at the ceiling while he wriggles his way under my arm.
“Will you still spin me when I’m all grown up?” he asks.
I laugh. “Oh, boy. You’ll be much taller then.Youmight have to spinme.”
“Will I get to be as tall as Uncle Illy?” Adam asks.
It’s alarming how easily and often Ilarion’s name flies out of his lips. It’s been two days since Ilarion crash-landed in Adam’s life, but you’d think they’ve known each other for years.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I mumble. “Maybe.”
“I hope so. Then I’ll be able to touch the sky.”
I poke him in the side until he giggles. “We just took a rocket ship into space. We’re way past the sky.”
With a wince, I push myself back to my feet. “Where are you going, Mama?” Adam protests.
“To see a friend.”
“But you don’t have any friends!” He shoots me a shit-eating grin, but when I lunge for him, he cackles and races out of the room, leaving a trail of gleeful shrieks in his wake.
My smile fades as soon as he’s gone. That’s par for the course these days. Adam’s grin is as bright as ever. It’s the world around it that seems increasingly bleak.
I strip off the shorts and replace them with baggy high-waisted pants and a crop top from my college days. Then I comb my hair out and grab my bag on the way downstairs.
I find Dad and Adam in the living room, sorting through the last of our boxes. Well, Dad is; Adam is mostly just bouncing between the chair and the sofa.
“I won’t be more than a few hours, okay? You boys be good for me.”
Dad glances over, his thinning hair plastered with sweat to his scalp. “I’m surprised you wanted to give him a special goodbye. I didn’t think he was very important to you.”
Was it that obvious?
I don’t meet his eyes. “I’ll be back soon.” I throw Adam a flying kiss and then I leave the house.
On my way out of the door, I check around to see if anyone is following me, but I don’t notice any suspicious cars or strangers on my tail. Of course, that doesn’t mean Ilarion hasn’t assigned someone to shadow me; it just means I can’t see them.
