Page 53 of All In Good Time

Becca moved, pushing past a group of chatting girls to get to Mal.

She reached out as she closed in and grabbed onto her jacket sleeve. The action did its part, and Mal spun around to yank her arm away from Becca.

“Can’t you leave me alone?”

Derek liked to say that he and Mal were nothing alike, but Becca had always thought otherwise. They might not be blood related, but they had the same scowl and the same bite to their words. They both knew the best things to say to scare someone away. They both now looked at her with the exact same mix of hatred and betrayal.

“I know you’re mad at me.”

“Mad?” Mal scoffed a humorless laugh and rolled her eyes. “That’s the understatement of the century.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Mal shook her head. “Until Derek is home, I don’t want to talk to you.”

Becca’s hand hung in the empty air as Mal pulled away and disappeared with the crowd of students moving to their classes and lunch.

* * *

Helpless was the only word Becca could think to describe how she felt—but it didn’t feel strong enough.

She couldn’t get to Derek, she couldn’t get to Mal. She couldn’t do anything for either of them.

Maybe that was her problem though. She so badly wanted to help, when everything she did made everything worse.

She sat in silence at the empty kitchen table and poked half-heartedly at a half-cold meal that had been sitting in the freezer for months. When she cut a piece of the mysterious meat and stuck it in her mouth, there was no taste.

The house was quieter than usual, and it was always quiet.

She jumped midbite at the sound of a door opening, followed by the shuffling of bags. If she wasn’t so used to the sound by now, she might assume an intruder. She rose from her unfinished meal and walked into the entryway to greet the arrival.

Maybe her mother had mentioned something about coming home on their call the other night, maybe not. If she had said something, Becca must not have been paying attention, because she was a little surprised to see her mom walking in with her travel bags in tow behind her.

Her mother’s eyes brightened when she saw Becca standing there, and she dropped her luggage to open her arms in invitation. “Hey, B.”

Becca walked into her mother’s embrace and closed her eyes as soft arms wrapped around her. Inhaling through her nose, she was surrounded by the familiar scent of antiseptic hidden under a rose perfume. It was so her mother, the scent she grew up with.

But it didn’t ease her worries the way it usually did. Not on this level.

The thoughts must have been written on her face clear as day, because her mom frowned as she pulled away from Becca. Instead of letting go, her hands came to Becca’s shoulders and rubbed gently.

“Rebecca, honey?” The frown overtook her face. “What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t told her mom anything. She hadn’t told her why Derek came over all the time, often late at night. She hadn’t told her that she called CPS and that she made Derek run away. Her mom didn’t know anything about anything that was going on. Not that she ever asked on their calls.

The smile Becca pulled on was far from believable, but she tried anyway. “Nothing. No, nothing. Just tired from school. You know how it is this time of year.”

Maybe it was because she was her mother, but her mom wasn’t convinced in the slightest. “Don’t you dare try to lie to me. Come on, tell me.”

Annoyance prickled in the back of Becca’s throat. Having her mom try and get involved with her life during the fleeting moments she was home grated against her ridged nerves. “How long are you home for?”

“Changing the subject isn’t going to make me move on. Come on, B, talk to me. I’m right here.”

Right here. Yeah, shewasright here—for now. In a couple days, she’d be somewhere else and they wouldn’t talk for a while, and then she’d come home and play mom again.

The weight of everything crumpled on Becca too quickly, and she pulled out of her mother’s hold. “Why do you care? You’re never here. Why the hell do you care right now?” Becca snapped.

Her mother’s face always showed exactly what she felt, so Becca could see the shock at her outburst. Was it really a surprise though? She’s practically lived alone since she’d started high school, and saw her mother a total of four months in an entire year, broken apart into bits and pieces.

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