Part 3
My mother stared at us as though the world had rearranged itself while she wasn’t looking.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Michelle stood first.
“Laura.”
My mother’s eyes moved from Michelle to me, then back again.
“I came home early.”
Her voice was flat.
I stood too.
“Mom—”
“Don’t.”
One word.
Sharp enough to stop me.
Michelle’s face had gone pale.
Laura walked closer.
“I called the house. No answer. I remembered you sometimes walk here.”
Her eyes lowered briefly toward the space between Michelle and me—the place where our hands had been joined moments earlier.
Then she looked at Michelle.
“Tell me I misunderstood.”
Michelle opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
That silence was answer enough.
My mother laughed once, without humor.
“Unbelievable.”
“Laura, please.”
“No.”
People passed farther down the trail, but the three of us might as well have been alone.
