Life Forgotten by Layne Deemer

Author:Layne Deemer [Deemer, Layne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Jude’s Honda CR-V twirling my fingers in the handle of the plastic shopping bag that holds my mom’s juice. I spin my hand to the right until the plastic tightens around my finger and then I swirl it to the left and watch it uncoil and then wind back up again. I repeat the motion and keep my eyes focused on it, trying, in vain, to not let my mind wander. I don’t want to think about what’s about to happen now that we’re on our way to Shady Villa.

“Thank you for driving.” I say the words robotically, unable to inject any emotion into my voice.

My head is turned down toward the bag in my lap, but I see Jude glance over at me in my peripheral vision. He turns back to face the road. “It’s not a problem, Nellie. I’m happy to help.” His tone isn’t quite as clinical as mine, but he doesn’t sound all that happy, either.

I force myself to look at his profile. There’s a slight tic in his jaw. He looks deep in concentration. I feel bad that I’m burdening him with my problems. “You didn’t have to come with me. I appreciate the company, but I’m sure there are plenty of other things you’d rather be doing on a Sunday afternoon.”

He peers over at me. The serious expression on his face stops me from looking away. “Don’t do that. Don’t give me an out when I’m not looking for one. I care about you, remember?”

He speaks with such finality, as if there were no other choice to be made. All I can do is nod.

I resume my twirling of the bag handles as we continue the drive in silence. The swirling of the frosted white bag matches the twisting in my gut. I’m clinging desperately to the small hope that today isn’t one of my mom’s bad days, but given the panicked phone call that led to this unplanned excursion, I don’t have much faith in that.

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