Page 67 of The Logic of Loyalty

“Back to work.”

“Your family misses you, Trevor. Make your way back to them.” Bethany reaches out a hesitant hand, and when I don’t move, she raises it to my shoulder, squeezing once before dropping it. I bite my lip at her awkward gesture, and a surge of affection fills me.

“Can I hug you, Bethany?”

“Yes! Yeah, sure. If you need to, that is.” I wrap my arms firmly around her. She’s stiff at first, but slowly, she relaxes into my hug. I decide to wait until she backs away before I drop my arms.

We grew up in a loveless home, but I’ve had Paige and Jacob for a decade. She’s lived with those frigid people for years. I like the idea of helping her recognize real, healthy familial love.

“You’re going to be late,” my sister mumbles into my shoulder before she backs away, patting my arm a few times when she gains her distance. “That was nice. Thank you.”

“Anytime.” I mean it. She’s good—truly good. How her goodness survived our home, I’ll never know. I had always assumed it hadn’t. Lesson learned.

I back away from the porch, revealing my son sticking his face in the window and waving with big, exaggerated arm wiggles. I wave back, just as goofy and exaggerated, to both of them, get into my car, and breathe through the searing pain of saying goodbye again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

PAIGE

Becky

Coffee?

Paige

You read my mind.

Becky

Ten minutes?

Paige

On my way

Bethany

Can we talk about something? I might need a place to stay

Paige

come over whenever

Paige

No schedule this week?

Josh

Nope

Paige

Vacation?

Read

Paige