Page 29 of Brother in Law with Benefits

***

Mom comes home from book club at nine-fifteen.

"Good book?" I ask.

"Wonderful. Woman kills her husband and frames the dog walker." She sets her purse on the counter. "Very satisfying. Where's Sophie?"

"She left."

Mom sits across from me. Doesn't say anything right away.

"You told her about the timeline," she says finally.

"Yeah."

"And you told her you were thinking about staying."

I look at her. "She told you?"

"No. You have a look, Grant. I've been reading it for forty-three years." She folds her hands. "What did you decide?"

"I don't know."

"Then figure it out. But gently." She stands up. "Sophie has been through enough. She doesn't need someone who's fifty percent sure."

"Everyone keeps telling me what she's been through. Nobody tells me the specifics."

Mom pauses at the doorway, considers me for a long moment, like she's deciding how much is hers to give away. "That's not my story to tell, son. But I'll say this much — you're not the firstGuilligan man to leave that girl standing somewhere wondering if she said something wrong. Don't be the second."

She goes up to bed before I can ask what she means by that.

I sit with my phone after she goes to bed.

Me:I'm sorry. That was unfair. I don't know what I want yet.

Three dots. Disappear. Three dots.

Sophie:Figure it out. Because I can't keep doing this if you're just going to leave anyway.

Me:I know.

Sophie:Let's not waste it on things we can't promise.

Me:Okay.

But it's not okay.

I'm already in too deep to call it okay.

9

Sophie

Idon't cry until I'm home.

I make it through the drive, up the stairs, through the door. Keys on the counter, shoes off. Then I sit on my couch in the dark and let myself fall apart.

I'm such an idiot.