Page 68 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

The second we step through the kitchen door, my smile fades. Two suitcases sit by the wall. Not overnight bags. Suitcases. The kind people pack when they're leaving.

I stop short. Tessa does too.

For a second, neither of us says anything. I look at her. She looks at me. Then she does that thing she always does when something hurts. Nothing. Her face goes blank. Her shoulders straighten. The wall goes up. Fast. So, freaking fast. What she doesn’t do is freeze, well, not on the outside like I do anyway.

A sick feeling settles in my stomach. “Tessa?”

She shrugs. Just shrugs.

My eyes drift from the suitcases to the silence hanging over the kitchen. To the tension that suddenly feels obvious.

So obvious that I immediately wonder how I missed it. How long has this been going on? Aunt Maggie and Uncle John don't fight. Not really. At least not where anyone can hear. They're solid. Steady. The kind of marriage everybody points to when they talk about forever.

Aren't they?

The question hits harder than I expected. Not because I'm worried about me. Because I'm worried about Tessa, Alex… all of them.

She's spent years believing just what everyone else has, that their family is strong.

Just like ours was…

“I—” she shakes her head, cutting me off. “I think I saw Dad's truck by the shop. I'll call you later?”

She nods, and I hug her quickly before heading toward the door.

16

LEAVING

Jade

Dad keeps both hands on the steering wheel as we wind through the back roads. The same back roads. The long way. The safe way. The way that doesn't pass the intersection.

I stare out the passenger window, watching fields blur by in the fading light.

“Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“Tessa didn't tell me what was going on.”

His jaw tightens slightly. For a second, I think he's going to pretend he doesn't know what I'm talking about. Instead, he sighs. “No?”

My stomach sinks. “Who is leaving?”

He doesn't answer immediately, and then, “Your aunt's staying at the apartment a few miles away for a little while.”

“Why?”

His pause is brief, but it’s there. “I don't know.”

“You don't know?”

His voice stays calm as he answers. “It isn't my business.”

I stare at him. That doesn't make any sense. They're brothers. Brothers know things about each other that others don’t.

Dad glances at me before returning his eyes to the road. “Jade, listen to me.” Something about his tone makes me sit up straighter. “This doesn't mean they're getting divorced.”