“Try keeping me away.”
She giggled and ran toward the car.
Ben hugged me next.
“Call when you get home,” I said.
“Okay, Gran. I’ll use Dad’s phone.”
He started toward the car, then stopped.
He looked up at the guest-room window.
Not just a glance.
Long enough that I followed his eyes.
“Ben? Did you forget something?”
His eyes snapped back to me.
“No.”
Too fast.
Adam opened the back door.
“Come on.”
Ben climbed in.
I waved until their car disappeared.
Then my house fell silent.
After two months of footsteps and cartoons, the quiet felt unnatural.
I went upstairs to strip the beds. Ben had slept in the twin bed beside the window.
When I pulled at the fitted sheet, one corner caught.
I lifted the mattress.
Something scraped against the wooden frame.
I reached into the narrow gap, expecting one of Ben’s toys.
