Page 74 of Reckless
I also knew that if she left alone, my mother would ask when she’d be back, Hope would text, Britney would analyze, Charlie would turn it into a joke, and the whole house would keep moving around the absence.Nothing in this family stayed casual once it had a story attached to it.
Kelly was halfway to the stairs before I said, “I’ll take you.”
She stopped and turned.
“I can drive myself,” she said.
“If you leave alone, my mother will start taking attendance.”
Her mouth flattened.She knew I was right.She nodded.“That doesn’t mean I need an escort.”
“No.It means you need cover.”
She studied me for one beat longer than she needed to and I stilled to let her.
“You don’t have to come in,” she said finally as she pivoted to let me pass.
I picked up her bag from where she’d set it beside the console table and carried it for her.“I remember what I promised and I won’t overstep.”
She took the bag from me.“You usually overstep.”
“Only when we both understand exactly what we want.”
“That’s not the defense you think it is.”
I almost smiled.She saw that and narrowed her eyes before turning toward the door.
Kelly sat turned partly toward the window, one leg crossed beneath the other, and her sandals heel hanging off the edge of her foot.
When I took off, she relaxed and the silence between us didn’t feel empty anymore.
I drove one-handed and let the quiet sit until she’d break it.
Something changed in her face.I caught it in the windshield’s reflection before she turned away again.
That was true enough to be worth the risk.
The rest of the drive unfolded in stretches of silence and short, low exchanges that felt more intimate than long conversations had any right to.
At one point she told me to take the left by the florist.
At another, she pointed at a tiny seafood place with peeling paint and a hand-lettered sign.
“That place has the best chowder on the island,” she said.
“That place looks structurally unsound.”
Her eyes widened.“That place has been here for eighty years.”
“That does not increase my confidence.”
“Their lobster bisque would change your personality.”
I winced.“My personality does not require change.”
“Your personality requires several things.Starting with humility near seafood.”
“That is unkind,” I said.
