“Seriously?” Brenna shrieked, covering Molly’s ears, as if she could remove the words from her brain.
“You’re out of line.” I pointed to the door. “Get. Out.”
Kathy remained rooted to the spot. “You’re one to talk, Nathan. Giving her hope you won’t break her heart again. Did she tell you how she fell apart last time? Every single day,sobbing over the boy who wouldn’t return her calls.Iwas the one here with her—”
Brenna stepped to my side. “Congratulations on fulfilling the most basic function of parenting. Yes, you were here, but you made me feel like a complete failure. I was suffering, and you chided me for not getting over it when I wasn’tcapableof it, at—”
Kathy blew out a long, exasperated breath. “Here we go again, you prattling on about your harebrained diagnosis.”
Diagnosis?Brenna had never said anything about a condition.
“I don’t care whether you believe it’s real,” she snapped.
Kathy took a step toward Brenna. Instinctively, I moved in front of her, my hand resting on her forearm.
Kathy rolled her eyes. “If I’msobad,” she said, “why did I take you in when you needed me?”
“Needed you?” Brenna roared. She paused to let out a cold cackle that sounded nothing like the kind woman I loved. “I neverneededyou. I told you that so you’d let me live with you. Molly neededmebecause you stopped taking care of her.”
Once the words burst from her, Brenna remembered herself, that she stood in front of the sister she wanted to protect. Molly didn’t need shielding from this message though. She was growing up with Kathy Quinn, and faster as a result, just like her sister. Molly’s eyes shone with gratitude at Brenna for having her back.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kathy said smoothly, not missing a beat. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
Brenna’s lips parted, and I knew the wordsYou’ll need to explain to a courtwere readied there, but she swiftly shut her mouth. She didn’t want to tip Kathy off to her plan to sue for custody.
Kathy shook her head, conveying judgment with this smallest of movements. “He’ll do it again, Brenna. They always do.” She turned on her heel and walked to the door. Before she stepped through, she looked at us over her shoulder. “Molly and I have a flight in two hours. I expect her to be ready to go in fifteen minutes.”
The door clicked shut. Brenna let out an audible breath, but her body was still tense thanks to the cyclone Kathy Quinn’s arrival blew into our house.
Molly clung to Brenna’s legs. “Please don’t make me go.Please.”
A flurry of tears fell from Bren’s eyes, rushing down her cheeks.
I wrapped my arms around them both, wishing I could fix this, could stop their hearts from breaking. But all I could do was make things as easy as possible.
I left them alone in the foyer and slipped upstairs to pack Molly’s belongings.
My phone vibrated on the table moments after Brenna’s stopped. I reached for it, seeing it was our realtor. Calling us on New Year’s Eve.
“Hey, Shelly, I’m surprised to hear from you today.”
I paused the movie. Brenna stirred in bed next to me. She’d drifted off to sleep an hour ago. She was sleeping more than usual after Kathy Quinn crashed our holiday. Had withdrawn into herself too. I kept waiting for her to talk to me,reallytalk to me. When she didn’t, I spent most of my time looking for signs she might be ready for me to bring it up.
It hadn’t happened yet.
“Realty stops for no one,” Shelly replied over the background noise of kids’ voices. “I’m calling with good news. Hot off the presses. I didn’t want to wait to tell you.”
I sat up in bed. “What is it?”
“I’ve received an all-cash offer on the house. Asking price.”
After several lowball offers we didn’t consider, here was serious interest. This newsshouldhavebeen exactly what I wanted to hear. It was the culmination of months of work, but it sent a pit to the bottom of my stomach.
The house would no longer belong to us, at least not after the sale processed three months from now. Our realtor had made the terms of the will known to all potential buyers—no final sales until April.
I was terrified our relationship could only survive here, that once we left the house, we’d return to our separate lives, like these past few months were a dream, a vacation from real life.
“Nathan, what’s wrong?” A crease formed between Brenna’s eyes.
