Page 28 of Shattering

But all she had felt was emptiness.

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Cadi checked the time.

It was nearly school pickup. It was half term next week.

She forced herself to move, her body feeling sluggish, like she was moving through mud.

When she arrived at the school gates, Tomos was already waiting, his small figure standing apart from the other kids.

He was wearing his favourite hoodie, the green one with the dinosaur spikes on the hood. His backpack hung off one shoulder, and he was scuffing his shoe against the pavement, not looking up as she approached.

Cadi swallowed down the lump in her throat.

She had prepared for this. Had practiced what to say in her head.

When he climbed into the car, she kept her voice light, casual. "Did you have a good day, sweetheart?"

Tomos shrugged, his fingers picking at the strap of his bag. "It was okay."

Silence stretched between them as she pulled out of the school parking lot.

Then—his small voice. "Are we going home, Mom?"

Cadi tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "No, sweetheart. There was a leak in the kitchen, and Dad is getting it fixed."

The lie slipped too easily from her lips.

"So, we're going to stay at Uncle Callum's for a couple of days."

Tomos turned to look at her, his wide eyes searching her face for something—anything—that made this make sense.

"What about Da?"

Cadi's stomach clenched. "He has to work." She forced a small smile. "But we'll see him tomorrow morning."

For a moment, Tomos didn't say anything.

Then he simply nodded, his gaze dropping back to his lap.

He didn't ask any more questions.

Didn't argue.

Didn't say anything at all.

He just stared out of the window the entire way there.

Callum lived in a modest semi-detached house—clean, simple, barely decorated except for the bookshelves overflowing with medical textbooks and old records stacked next to the player in the corner.

When he opened the door, he didn't look surprised to see her standing there with Tomos.

His hazel eyes flickered from Cadi to the suitcases, then back to her face.

Then he stepped aside.

"Come on in."

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