Chapter 13: Out of the House

"I know I did," I said. "I thanked you for it."

My voice shook, and I let it.

"I thanked you all the way home."

Dane looked at the room.

He did it slowly, the way he looks at a lot full of cars, and when he finished looking, the smile was back.

"Folks, sorry about the noise," he said. "Family business. Coffee's fresh, and oil changes are on the house today."

One of the salesmen laughed too loudly.

The couple by the Mustang walked toward the door without a word.

Dane picked his keys up off the receptionist's desk.

"I'll see you at Mom's," he said to me. "We'll do this where it's private."

I drove to my mother's house with both hands tight on the wheel.

He beat me there anyway.

His truck sat crooked in the driveway, and through the kitchen window I could see the back of his head.

Willa sat at the table in yesterday's cardigan with her hands around a mug.

Agnes stood at the stove with a wooden spoon, not stirring anything.

The television murmured in the den, where Archie lay on his stomach in front of a cartoon about a dog with a job.

"Sit, Cal," Agnes said, without turning around.

I stood by the door instead.

"You took my son out of his bed in the middle of the night," Dane said to Willa.

He said it gently.

"Our son," Willa said.

"Honey. Look at yourself."

"Say her name, Dane."

"Whose name?"

"The woman on the bracelet."

He did not blink.

"What bracelet?"

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