Page 49 of Break

Mina blinks, her eyes darting between us before settling on the town of paper in front of her. “Oh,” she says softly, adding nothing else.

Max takes a few steps closer to her, his eyes scanning over the paper structures with fascination. “This is amazing,” he says, sounding genuinely impressed. Emotion is clogging his voice, and I don’t think it’s because of what happened moments ago with Danny. This is something else.

She frowns down at her miniature city and straightens the building that was knocked over. She adjusts it until it’s back in the perfect position.

Then it all clicks for me.

The paper. The zoning out. The attention to detail.

This is her coping mechanism. This is how she deals with feeling out of control in her surroundings. She comes here and absorbs herself into a model world of perfection and beauty to escape. It’s her habit and I’m so fucking thankful I thought to give her that stack of paper.

Squatting down, I take a closer look at the buildings and a sense of awe rolls over me.Damn, she’s really fucking talented at this.Creating some of these structures must have taken years of practice to perfect, and it’s fucking impressive.

The noise of blood rushing through my ears grows louder and the word ‘years’ plays on a loop through my head. Years of learning this skill, years of coping. Which means Danny probably wasn’t full of shit when he shared what her home life was like with her parents. Andthatmakes my heart ache for the woman sitting in front of me. She’s focused back on finishing her task, ignoring the fact that the two of us are next to her and watching.

I reach out a hand to touch her shoulder, but hesitate, unsure if I should disturb her. Max is still standing near the door, uneasy about how we’ve found her, but I don’t focus on that right now. Mina is the one that needs my full attention.

Speaking softly, I ask, “Can I help you with anything?”

Her eyes are filled with uncertainty when she looks at me, then back down at her town. “Help me?” she repeats softly.

“Yeah, if you’d like me to,” I reply with a small smile. “You’ve been helping around here enough times. It’s the least I can do to return the favor.”

Darting her eyes back to Max, she looks hopeful for a brief moment before doubt clouds her features. She shutters whatever thoughts she had back inside, deep where I can’t access it.

“I don’t think there’s anything I need help with right now, but… umm, thank you for the offer.” She looks nervous as she flicks another glance at Max. There’s something there that’s making her uneasy, and I want to unpack it to see what it is.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” Waving my hand toward her structures, I add, “Will you tell me about all of this and what you’re doing? It’s very impressive.”

She sucks in a breath, surprised at my question. “N-No… I don’t mind if you stay.” Staring at what I can now tell is a tree in her hand, she holds it out so I can see. “It’s just a tree. I’m going to put it in front of that house.” She nods her head toward a Victorian looking two-story that actually has decorative mill-work under the roofline.

“I, uhh… I’ve got some phone calls to make. I just… Fuck. Mina? Are you okay?” Max fumbles through his question.

Looking back at him, she keeps her face blank when she asks, “He’s really gone?”

Giving her a sharp nod, he assures her. “Yes. He’s most definitely gone.”

I hear a small, breathy sigh of relief from her slightly parted lips. “Good.” I wince when an awkward silence ensues between the two of them; her ignoring his question of wanting to know if she’s okay, and him waiting for the reassurance she won’t give him.

Scratching the side of his face, he takes a step back toward the door. “Right then. I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything at all.”

He doesn’t wait for her answer, turning quickly and striding out the door like there’s fire licking his heels. I need to know what that was all about, so I stand up rather quickly, drawing her attention to my movement.

“I’m going to go get another thing of paper for you. I’ll be right back.”

She attempts to smile, and I feel relieved that I’ve done something right for her. Hurrying out the door, I follow the sound of Max through the house. I head in that direction after making a stop to grab more paper from the office.

As I walk, I can hear Max muttering to himself in frustration. Making it to the kitchen, I see him with both of his hands planted on the counter, fingers spread wide, and head hanging low.

“Talk,” I grit out. He knows what I’m asking because he doesn’t look confused by my demand.

“The town. The houses. You know what all that is, right?” he asks me without looking up.

Huffing out an unamused laugh, I cross my arms and legs after leaning back against the counter. “Oh yeah. But that’s not what’s bothering you.”

Lifting his head, he gives me a pained expression. “It is, and it isn’t. I realized something when we were up there and it’s fucking killing me right now.” Waiting him out, he lets out a groan. “Do you remember when we were in middle school, and I got in trouble for bringing that knife to scare the shit out of that kid that was running his mouth about my mom? Danny and I both got suspended.”

“Yeeeaah.” I draw out my response because this is a random time to bring up some crap from over a decade ago.

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