Page 73 of Feast

“She’s always been a hard sleeper,” Maddie said. “She fell out of the top bunk once when we were kids and only woke up when my dad came in and turned on the light.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

They stared at the sleeping Halley for a second, then Spence reached for the coat he’d left draped over the chair. He shrugged into it. “I should go.”

“Oh. Okay.” Battling disappointment, Maddie followed him to the door. “Drive safely.”

“I will.” He turned at the door, tugging the cap down over his ears. “Let me know if I should get that test.”

She had to clench her thighs together to keep them from quivering. “I will…definitely do that.”

“Later, Maddie,”

“Bye, little bro,” she quipped, just to see him scowl.

But he just shook his head, a strange little smile curling his lips, and started down her walk.

She watched until he got in his truck and drove away, waving when he tooted the horn, then shut the door with a sigh.

“Is he gone?” Halley asked from the floor.

Maddie started, spinning around to stare at her sister—who was very not sleeping. “You’re awake.”

“Of course, I’m awake.” Halley got up from the floor with a grunt. “You were fucking in the bathroom. Loudly.”

Maddie winced. “Sorry. I was trying to be quiet.

“You failed,” Halley stretched, arching her back. “Spectacularly.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Or it would’ve been, if I didn’t have to pee so badly.”

Maddie waved a hand toward the bathroom. “All clear now.”

“Thank God.” Halley hurried down the hall, then stopped with a hand on the bathroom door. “Where did you do it?”

“The sink. Why?”

“Sitting on it or bent over it?”

“Bent over it.”

Halley walked over to a box in the hall, rummaged around for a second, and dug out a container of antimicrobial wipes. “I’ll leave these in there, just in case he stops by again.”

“Funny,” Maddie called after her and went to change her pants.

12

Monday at work was an unholy mess, and Maddie was dealing with it by drinking too much caffeine and fantasizing about setting fire to her computer. Since that would only increase her workload—and possibly get her arrested and/or placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold—she just poured herself another cup of coffee and dug back into her spreadsheets.

By the time lunch rolled around, she was buzzing from all the caffeine and desperate for a break. She’d brought her lunch, intending to eat at her desk, but now the mere thought made her cringe.

“Hey, Maddie, what are you doing for lunch?”

She glanced up at the statuesque Black woman in a purple dress standing in her doorway. “I don’t know. I was going to eat here, but I need a break from this…stuff.”

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