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I fight the urge to fidget under his stare.
“Most of my dishes were broken in the accident. One box is mine and Audra’s belongings — our clothes, toiletries and stuff, the other box is the few kitchen items that you don’t have in the apartment and Audra’s toys,” I say quietly, unnerved by the way he’s staring at me.
A flash of sympathy or pity crosses his face, but it’s gone so fast, I can’t be sure it was there in the first place before it disappears.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. How sad is it that I can fit my whole life into two moving boxes? What must he think of me as a mother, that I can fit all of my daughter’s worldly possessions in half a box? How did this even become my life?
I asked myself that question over and over again as I cleaned split skin and iced bruises from Sean and limped my way through the abuse.
Shoving the self-pity down, I straighten my shoulders. So what if Audra and I travel light? She’s six months old for crying out loud. She doesn’t need that much, and neither do I.
“Well she’s loaded up, you want us to head over to your place and unload it all, or are you gonna follow her over?” Finch breaks the silent standoff between his brother and me.
Harlan eyes me for a minute before asking, “You hungry?”
My stomach rumbles loudly in the next second at the mention of food. A quick glance at my watch shows that it’s nearly lunch time.
“I could eat,” I say.
“The diner?” Jedd asks.
Harlan nods. “Yeah, we’ll meet you there.”
Chapter 13
Harlan
Wet squishy gums gnaw on my hand as my family tosses sarcasm, laughter, and the occasional good-natured insult across the table. Audra’s using my thumb as a teething ring and there’s a perfectly good Reuben sandwich sitting in front of me that I have yet to take a bite of.
Is this how it’s been for Maisie?
Has she had a hot meal since Audra’s been born outside of the time that she’s been here?
I look over to the raven-haired beauty who’s watching the conversation bounce back and forth across the group, all of my siblings crowded around the two tables pushed together in Ma’s diner.
She has her own burger and fries on her plate, though she’s made a dent in hers.
Audra’s little body does a wiggle in my lap, and I steady her with the hand that’s not being chewed on.
“Harlan Calhoun, you hand over that baby,” Jedd says.
“What? No. It’s my turn,” Rhett says.
“Bullshit. I haven’t gotten to hold her yet. You both already have,” Finch says.
“You can’t say bullshit around a baby, moron,” Duke interjects.
“You just did, idiot,” Finch fires back.
“All of you are crazy.” Boone laughs next to Jem.
“I got to hold her yesterday, so sucks to be all of you,” Jem says to the table.
I glance to my right where Jedd is making grabby hands to take Audra, his own plate empty. After a quick glance to Maisie and her subtle nod giving me the okay, I gently remove my hand from her mouth and pass her to him, though I’m loathe to give up the comforting weight and feel of her.
“She’s teething so your fingers might be in danger,” I say to him, though there’s really no danger. Her first tooth hasn’t started to poke through her gums yet, though it’s there, just under the surface.
Jedd scoops her from my arms, and instead of sitting her on his lap facing out, he hugs her to his shoulder.
