Page 74 of When The Noise Stops

"Don't."

She looked at me.

"You're still soft," she said.

"Not for me. For Gabby. That was always the difference."

"Get out of my face, Maggie."

She went down the hall toward the bedroom.

I stood in the kitchen with my hands on the counter until they were steady. Then I almost crossed to Lila's door.

I did not.

Gabby was over there laughing at something I could not hear.

I had my daughter near.

But bitterness sat on my tongue, and I swallowed it, because the girl next door had called me Daddy, and I was not going to make that a lie twice.

Chapter 31

Lila

I was on the couch when the knock came.

I knew it was Knox.

I opened the door.

He still smelled like sex. His hair was messy. His jaw was tight.

I didn't ask. Wasn't my business.

"I'm picking up Gabby?" he asked.

"She's in the back. Watching TV."

He nodded. Didn't move.

"Come in," I said.

He stepped inside. Stood in the middle of my living room like he didn't know where to put his hands.

"Gabby," he called.

She came out of the back room. Around twelve years old. She looked at me, then at him, then back at me.

"Go back to the apartment. I'll be there in a minute."

"Bye, Lila," she said.

"Bye, sweetheart."

She left. The door clicked shut.

Knox was still standing.