Mom Handed Us One Lease, So I Handed My Stepbrother My Bed novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Mirror

Maricela's POV

I woke on the rug with a blanket over me and the fan still turning.

The light through the cedar slats on the window was gold and slanted.

Jakob stood at the foot of the bed in his jeans, with a mug of coffee in one hand, looking at the wall.

I knew before he spoke.

"When were you going to tell me about Denver?" he said.

I sat up with the blanket held to my chest.

"How did you find out?"

"Your phone lit up on the rug," he said. "I wasn't looking for it."

"I believe you."

"January fourth," he said. "A children's hospital. A relocation team."

"Jakob."

"Thirteen weeks," he said. "That's what you meant by a few weeks."

"Yes."

His jaw worked.

He set the mug down on my dresser, very carefully.

"At the Shell station," he said. "I was at the ice machine. I watched you through the glass."

"I know. I saw you."

"I knew you signed something. You turned the phone over when I came out."

His voice stayed low and even.

"I told myself it was a bill. I didn't know it was a one-way ticket."

"It's a job," I said. "It's a good job."

"Is that why you made the rules?"

"Yes," I said.

"No promises. No after."

"Yes."

"Because you're leaving," he said.

"Because I'm always leaving," I said, and my throat closed. "That's what I do. I leave first."

He stared at me.

I got to my feet, wrapped the blanket around me and made myself say the rest.

"My mother married your father, and she gave me a lease and a good chair at her table."

"It's a lovely family. I don't have a place in it."

"That isn't true," he said.

"I wanted thirteen weeks of being wanted by someone who didn't need anything from me," I said. "That's all. I took them."

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