Page 72 of The Library of Borrowed Hearts

She opens her mouth and closes it again, looking exactly like Theo when one of his experiments blows up in his face.

“We all feel like we want to run away sometimes,” I say and give her hand a little pat. She looks like she needs it. “But not everybody can.Youdid, so that means Chloe has to take care of us now. I don’t want anything from you, and neither do Theo or Trixie, but I think maybe you should ask her.”

Then I roll over as best I can and pull my blankets up to my chin. Gummy Bear grunts when I accidentally kick him, but my mom stays quiet for a very long time.

So long, in fact, that I’m already asleep by the time she leaves. I don’t know where she goes, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t to talk to Chloe. That would be the brave thing to do, and even though Mom is beautiful and soft and smells like a department store, she isn’t even a little bit as brave as her.

25

NOODLE

The next morning, I find Todd on the front step with a scraping tool in one hand and a mask over his face.

“Sir? Mr. Aarons? Uh…Dad?”

He stops as soon as he hears my voice. It’s hard to read his expression behind the mask, but I’m guessing he’s smiling. He’salwayssmiling.

“I think we can stick to Todd for now, kiddo,” he says with a wink. He lifts the mask from his face and plunks it down on top of his head. “Time enough for all the rest once Ravenna decides whether or not she’s staying.”

I was right about the smile, which is good, but I don’t like that last bit. I never meant for Mom to come hereforever. I just wanted her to help out Chloe for a little while.

“Todd,” I say, rolling his name over my tongue to see how I like it. It feels fine. Not great, but fine. “Can you give me a ride somewhere?”

“Well, now. That depends.” He tries peeking over my head to the inside of the house. He’s looking for my mom, but he won’t find her in there. She slipped out back to smoke a cigarette and play on her phone a while ago. Todd got up early and immediately started doing all kindsof things around the house—fixing the rattling air conditioner in the kitchen, painting over the burn mark by Theo’s bed, and now scraping all the rust off the front door—but Mom just keeps trailing around looking sad.

At first, I thought she might have been sad because of all her memories coming back, but mostly I think she just hates this place. She used to look exactly like that when I was a kid, as if something in the air smells bad and she can’t escape it.

“She’s playingCandy Crush,” I offer. “I peeked at her phone. She’s on level eleven thousand or something.”

Todd’s smile starts to droop at the edges. Before it can get too far, he tosses the scraper aside and rubs his hands together. The sound is dry and crackly, but not in a bad way.

“In that case, the best thing we can do is go for a drive. A long one. She always playsCandy Crushwhen she’s not feeling well.”

I hesitate. “If she’s not feeling well, shouldn’t we stay and look after her?”

Todd steps back as if there’s a monster standing right behind my shoulder. “No way, kid. If you want my advice, the best way to deal with a woman like your mother is to give her space.”

“Space?” I echo.

“She doesn’t like being backed into a corner.” He clucks his tongue and shakes his head. “She’s like a wild animal that way. In a lot of ways, come to think of it. She says too much responsibility makes her feel trapped.”

I want to point out that wild animals have lots of responsibility—that they have to eat and fight and take care of their young to make sure they survive into adulthood—but I don’t.

“Does that mean you’ll take me to visit Zach?” I ask.

“Isn’t that the guy who’s Chloe’s boyfriend?” Todd says, his brow furrowed.

“He’s my friend, too,” I say.

I must talk louder than I mean to because Todd raises his hands with a chuckle. “Sure thing, kid. He’s a friend of the whole family.” As if just now noticing the book in my hand, he nods down at it. “You guys in a book club or something?”

I glance at the copy ofWuthering Heightsand curl it closer to my body. I don’t want to talk about what I’m doing—or why—so I say the first thing that pops into my mind.

“He lives in the woods,” I say.

“The woods?”

“Way up the mountain.”