Chapter 19: Two Thirteen

My mother put the phone in my hand.

The screen was open on a message to me.

It was a draft, never sent, with a time stamp of 2:13 a.m.

I read it standing up.

Cass, I heard you. I heard you and I hung up anyway. Where are you? I'm coming. Please pick up.

That was all.

Under it, the cursor was still blinking.

"You typed this," I said.

"I typed it in the kitchen. I was on my feet."

"And?"

"And Brynn came down the stairs in her robe."

My mother's mouth shook.

"She put her hand over the screen. She said, 'Aunt Laurel, she's fine. The hospital called.'"

She drew a breath.

"'She's just being dramatic, and Uncle Dale needs you.'"

"Did the hospital call?"

"No."

"You knew that."

"I knew it was a lie," my mother said. "I knew it when she said it."

She looked at her thumb.

"And I let it come off the screen."

She wiped her face with the heel of her hand.

"I have asked myself since Saturday why I let her."

She shook her head.

"The truth is that she is easy, Cass. For twelve years she's been easy."

Her voice dropped.

"You made me look at things, and she made me feel like a good mother."

"She was holding a file over Dad the whole time."

"I didn't know about the file. I knew about the crash."

She stopped.

"I never asked him why he stopped drinking. I thought it was a promise to God. I didn't want to know more."

I held the phone out to her.

"Take it back."

"I don't want it back. I want you to keep it."

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