Page 96 of The Facade

And for the tiniest moment, I thought he was going to take it back and tell me never mind, and that he didn’t want any distance and instead wanted me by his side through this upcoming week.

But then the look disappeared, and he said, “Thank you for understanding.”

He stood and put his hand on my door handle to leave. When I took in his black jacket, I realized that if we were going on a break, there was probably something I should return. So I opened the bottom drawer of my nightstand and pulled out his lucky Columbia hoodie.

“Here, I guess I should probably give this back to you,” I said, offering it to him.

He glanced at the gray hoodie in my hands then met my gaze and said, “You can keep it.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, not feeling like I should have it with our new situation.

But when I held it out to him again, he shook his head and said, “Just keep it safe for me, okay?”

“Okay.” I hugged it to my chest.

He hesitated by the door for another moment. And then, as if on impulse, he walked the few steps across the carpet to me and pulled me into an embrace. He seemed to breathe in my shampoo, and after kissing me on top of my head, he said, “It’s just a little break, okay?” He pulled away and searched my gaze. “Just until…” He let the words taper off, like he didn’t want to finish his sentence. Didn’t want to think about what had to take place before he could focus on anything besides his mom.

And even though I still wasn’t confident he’d come back to me like he said he would, I nodded. “Okay.”

He hugged me once more and then left.

I watched him climb down the tree outside my window and run toward the gate between our houses.

After he disappeared, I pulled his hoodie over my head, turned out the lights, and climbed into my bed. And as I lay there cuddled up in Mack’s hoodie, I prayed that he would have the strength he needed to make it through the next few weeks because I had a feeling he would need all the strength he could get.

30

Mack

My grandmaand my mom’s siblings came to visit over the next few days, filling my house with chatter and laughter that had been missing recently. When my dad told me my mom’s family was coming to town, I had expected everyone to be crying and sad. But instead of focusing on what was coming, we all sat with my mom and talked about all the old memories that we each had with her.

And even though I hated the reason why everyone was talking about all the mischief my mom used to get into when she was younger, it was fun to learn more about the part of her that I didn’t get to know about since I hadn’t known her as anything other than a mom.

My friends visited a couple of times, which was nice. Ava and Elyse seemed slightly uncomfortable at first, like they didn’t know where they fit in since they were the daughters of theother womanmy dad had been involved with in the past. They seemed unsure about how to talk to Grandma Jackson when she asked them questions about themselves. But once they saw that my mom’s family was just as understanding as my mom had been when we’d first discovered the news that my dad was their father, they seemed to settle in.

Hunter and Carter kept me updated on what was going on with basketball practice. Scarlett and Nash told me all about the school drama that I’d missed out on. One of the highlights being that Ben Barnett was now on every girl’s blacklist after Elyse had talked to a few other girls at school about their interactions with him and finding out that she and Cambrielle hadn’t been his only victims.

It was good to see my friends, and their visits helped keep some of the gloom away.

Cambrielle came over with everyone else, too, but I noticed that while everyone else was their usual chatty selves, Cambrielle was a lot quieter than usual.

Our gazes would catch every so often as everyone else chatted, but then she’d look away with a sad expression on her face, and it made me wonder if I’d completely messed everything up by cooling things off with her.

I thought I’d made it clear that it was just a short break, just so that I could focus on my mom and make this time last so I could imprint it in my memory forever.

But maybe I hadn’t made it clear enough.

Or maybe she was having second thoughts of her own.

On Tuesday morning,my mom suddenly seemed to feel a lot better. In the days immediately before, she had stopped talking. Had become unable to eat or drink since swallowing was impossible. But it was almost like the tumor had shifted or maybe even miraculously shrunk because when I went in her room to sit with her, she smiled at me and said, “Hello, my darling,” in the familiar tone I’d worried I may never hear her use again.

My heart caught in my throat for a moment, and I wondered if I’d just imagined her speaking to me. But then she smiled again and in her usual candor, she said, “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

I blinked my eyes a few times, looking at her wasted form on the hospital bed my dad had brought in last week, trying to make it fit with the lively note she had in her voice. And for a second, I wondered if I somehowwasseeing a ghost.

“Sorry, I just...” I said, scooting closer and taking her hand in mine. “You’re talking.”

“You’ve never known me to keep my mouth shut for too long, have you?” Her dark-brown eyes shone bright.

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