Page 26 of The Best Shot

“Out?”

Mama set my glass down. “You can say that.”

Shaun pulled out a chair and sat heavily.

“She’s staying with a friend right now,” Mama said.

“A friend?”

Shaun’s mouth tightened. “That’s all you need to know.”

Mama went careful. Shaun went blank.

“Did something happen?”

“Fuck if I know,” he muttered.

“Shaun,” my mother said, “watch your mouth at my dinner table.”

He grunted.

“She needed space.” Mama set a plate of food in front of him, then one in front of me before sitting down with her own, completing the triangle. “Time to figure things out. It’s a rough patch. Every marriage has them.”

They’d moved in right after the wedding. Temporarily. But six months became a year, then “just until things stabilized.” Then five years of CeeCee trying to build a marriage under my mother’s roof.

I kept my mouth shut. It didn’t matter.

Shaun looked up anyway. “What’s that look for?”

“Shaun,” Mama said quietly.

“No. I want to know what the look is for.”

“Nothing.” I picked up my fork. “This is good, Mama. You do something different?”

Mama smiled, gratefully took the change of subject, and insisted on hearing more about Patagonia. I spoke and she listened. Her expression told me she was proud, even if she didn’t entirely understand. Shaun ate and didn’t contribute. He’d always been better at silence than I was. Knew how to let it sit in a room and weaponize it.

“You’re still friends with that Hale boy,” Mama said.

I blinked. “Yeah.”

“He runs that garage, doesn’t he? The one off Main that got all that investment money?”

“Yeah.”

“Good business, from what I hear. Lots of work.”

I kept eating because I knew better than to help her get there faster.

“If you’re close with him, maybe you could put in a word for your brother.”

I glanced at Shaun. He was focused on his plate.

“Why do I need to put in a good word?” I said carefully. “What happened to the dealership?”

Mama’s fork slowed. “Your brother was let go.”

Fucking hell. Fired.