BooksBarbecue
Back When She Returned Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate pushed open the glass doors of the police station and stepped outside. I’d waited in the car during her first appointment, because sitting in the police station for two hours sounded awful. I’d planned on going to Starbucks, but I’d never even put my keys in the ignition. As soon as I’d shut the door, all the questions I had kept buried just outside my awareness assaulted me, and I hadn’t moved from my seat as they played themselves out.

As I watched her duck her head and cover Shiloh’s like she did every time they were outside, I reminded myself to be quiet and let her do the talking. I’d acted like such an idiot on the way over. It was similar to how I’d felt driving Abbi to middle school by myself the first few times. The awkward tension between us had been so strong I hadn’t been able to wait for her to get out of the car, even though I made sure not to let on that I felt that way. At least Kate’s silences were different than Abbi’s had been all those years ago. Distrust and preteen disdain had filled hers, and she had purposefully ignored me. Kate simply didn’t need to fill up space with empty words, and something about it unsettled me, which only made me talk more. I’d ended up babbling the entire drive about nonsense.

She clasped Shiloh into her car seat before sliding into the passenger side. I turned the heat on for her. She was always shivering, no matter how warm it was.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she said without looking at me.

I pulled out of the parking lot and made a left, heading down to Highway 12. I kept glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. Her face was turned to the side as she stared out the window, so I couldn’t see her expression. I was dying to know how her session had gone. But it felt too nosy and motherly. I wasn’t trying to slide into that role with her. It was already strange enough driving her around.

She didn’t speak the entire drive, and not talking made me break out in a cold sweat by the time we got inside. Our house felt so much bigger with everyone gone. Camille’s team had packed up their last bit of gear this morning and had brought it down to the station. The expansiveness only magnified the quiet that had filled the rooms after their departure. She took off her shoes and scurried up the stairs with Shiloh. Her bedroom door clicked shut.