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“Will you shut up?” Athena blurted aloud. She clapped her hand over her mouth and listened for anyone who might have been walking past her room at that very moment. Thankfully, the hallway was quiet.
Sighing, Athena moved to the bed and fell backward onto it, collapsing into the soft comforter. She stared at the now familiar ceiling. Tonight would be the last night she could stare at it and make invisible drawings from the textured surface.
She’d miss this part, too. If she were truly honest with herself, she’d admit that staying in a house with running water and the security of four walls would be something she’d remember fondly.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she did find some work and was able to put some of her money down on a deposit for rent.
Her eyes closed and she folded her arms over her chest, allowing herself to drift to sleep. Just because she was leaving didn’t mean she had to return to the exact lifestyle she’d had before. She simply needed to get out of there, specifically because she knew she didn’t belong. It was more than being an outsider.
Athena didn’t fit. She was a square peg trying to be shoved into a different shaped hole. She’d never belong, and she had made her peace with it.
* * *
A door shut down the hall and Athena shot up from where she’d fallen asleep on her bed, still fully clothed. The clock on the dresser said it was nearing breakfast time. No one had come to get her last night or this morning so far, but surely they would be up and wandering the halls. If she wanted to sneak out before Henry cornered her, she needed to do it now.
Athena grabbed her suitcase handle and then quietly pushed the door open. She poked her head out the door and glanced down the hallway both ways. No signs of anyone who would want to stop her or ask her questions.
She ducked back into her room and grabbed her hat, then stepped out into the hall and nearly collided with Hudson.
His shrewd gaze dipped to her suitcase and then lifted to meet hers. Before she could try to explain what was happening, he shook his head and muttered something under his breath before heading down the stairs.
No comment. No demands. He wasn’t going to stand in her way and sound the alarm so Henry could tell her to stay? She must have far overestimated his love for his brother. There was no other reasonable explanation for it.
A small fire burst to life in her stomach. This only proved that she was right. Not even family was required to care about each other. Hudson hadn’t been supportive of her or the relationship she had with his brother. He’d never hidden that he despised her, and they both knew it.
She was tempted to chase him down and tell him he needed to be better. Henry deserved a brother who was able to help bolster him and what he wanted out of life, not tear him down for falling in love with someone like her.
But she couldn’t.
Athena didn’t have the strength to go after Hudson and lecture him. Out of nowhere, her heart had started to crumble. There was a small part of her that wanted someone to be there, telling her that she shouldn’t go. Not even Henry had told her to stay last night, which was further proof she was doing right by him by letting him go. She couldn’t bear to live in his shadow, and she was too stubborn not to speak her mind about it.
He’d be better off finding someone who he saw as an equal and who could accept his criticism with grace.
That wasn’t her, at least not yet.
Maybe one day that could change.
25
Henry
Henry stepped from the barn for the third time that morning and stared at the house. Athena hadn’t come out yet. Apparently, she’d been madder than he thought. She’d come out eventually. She couldn’t stay holed up in that room forever.
That was what he kept telling himself, except there was one issue.
This was Athena. She’d been growing increasingly more antsy lately—more prone to getting defensive.
Something had shifted in the air. Henry didn’t want to admit it, but he could sense something different. Maybe he was in denial. He needed to get his mind onto different things until he knew for sure. And he wasn’t up for checking on her himself.
Hudson was headed this way from the supply shed, a toolbox in one hand and a box under his arm. He glanced toward the house and then back to Henry. “She’s gone.”
Henry stiffened, his focus shifting once more to the house. “How would you know?”
His brother adjusted the strap from his tool bag. “Because I saw her sneak out this morning.”
Henry charged toward Hudson, fury building inside. “You saw her leave and you’re only telling me now?”
“You didn’t ask.”
