In the Long Run by Haley Cass

Author:Haley Cass [Cass, Haley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2021-11-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Have you seen Taylor?”

“What the hell did you do?”

She and Ben spoke simultaneously as she finally answered his call, ducking into the kitchen as soon as she swiped to answer.

“So, you’ve seen her?” Ben asked, the anxiety in his voice more than clear to her ear that knew every tone he had. “She’s there?”

“Yeah, bonehead, she’s here,” she retorted, conscious of keeping her voice down; she knew how voices carried in her home. “Now, what did you do?”

“I – we had an argument. I didn’t mean for it to be an argument, I just…” he trailed off, heaving a sigh. “And then she left and she didn’t have anything! I’ve been calling her and calling her, before I realized her phone’s here, and it’s almost like a damn hurricane storm outside.”

We had an argument. His statement circled in her head, the same thing Taylor had told her.

“What did you fight about?” She couldn’t help but ask, keeping her voice a whisper as she threw a look over her shoulder, just in case.

What she found the most shocking, was that for once in her life she didn’t really care to have all of the details. No, she didn’t care about what they fought about. Because at the end of the day, she had Taylor crying on her couch and for now, that was all she needed to know.

Ben sighed, groaning. “Something stupid, and I didn’t mean what she thought I was saying.”

“You need to cut her some slack,” she snapped, angry in a way she normally wasn’t with Ben, especially not on the subject of Taylor. Ben’s feelings were his own, and he was rarely anything but polite, even to people he didn’t care for.

And he cared for Taylor, a lot. That was really the problem here, she knew that even though Taylor didn’t.

“I know. I – so, she’s safe, then?” Ben asked, and she could picture the anxious shrugging movement he’d be making with the words.

“Yeah. She’s fi–” She bit her lip, because… god, she’d never seen Taylor cry like that. She’d never seen Taylor do anything but let things bounce off of her like she was impenetrable. She didn’t know if Taylor was fine. “She’s safe.”

“Okay. Okay, good,” Ben repeated himself under his breath.

Brooke drew in a deep breath through her nose before blowing it slowly out through her mouth. “Are you okay?” Annoyed at Ben or not, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Me? Yeah, I’m… well, kind of. But I have to text Savannah and let her know Taylor isn’t missing in the storm anymore.”

She murmured her goodbyes and tucked her phone into her back pocket before she stirred the chicken and lentil soup she’d been simmering throughout the afternoon, admittedly putting off going back into the den for a few moments as she gathered her bearings from the last half hour.

She’d spent plenty of time with Taylor, one on one, throughout her life. More in the last month than at any other time, really.

And even in the varying shades of how comfortable she was during those interactions, it was never awkward.

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