Page 70 of The Woman Left Behind

“What’s stupid, baby?” he whispered into her hair.

“Me crying and carrying on. I knew it. I’ve known it for years. They would never have left me behind.”

“It’s still a shock,” he noted.

“I guess,” she mumbled. “But even if in the meantime I honed my talents with denial to a sharp edge, if I didn’t know it before, I would have known it when you first came to visit me.”

He gave her a gentle admonishing shake. “You’re allowed to react, now, sixteen years ago, sixteen years from now.”

She pulled her head off his shoulder and looked at him. “I love Amina and Saira and Momtaz and Bisma and Ayesha, but I need to watch something mindless tonight.”

She was talking about the characters in their show.

“We’ll find something,” he muttered.

“Do you mind staying with me?” she asked shyly.

Harry rounded her jaw with his hand and dipped close. “Honey, if you want me here, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Wet filled her eyes again, she sucked in an audible breath and said, “Thanks.”

“Are you gonna be able to eat mac and cheese?” he asked.

“Ronnie’s mac and cheese is the awesomest,” she told him something he could already tell by sight and smell. “But I’m not sure how my stomach would respond to something heavy.”

“Salad?”

She curled her lip.

He smiled at her. “Want me to make you a sandwich?”

“Are you going to let me get away with having wine for dinner?”

“No.”

Her lips turned down and she gave in. “So I’ll have a little mac and cheese and some salad.”

“All right, sweetheart.”

He reached for her remote.

She snuggled into his side.

He found a home improvement show, they settled in, and he got up when it was time to get the dish out of the oven. He made them both a plate. After they ate, Lillian insisted on helping him wash up.

This commenced them taking in two hours of watching people extol the virtues of shiplap and fight over the price of tile, during which Lillian fell dead asleep against him.

He let her sleep another half an hour before he clicked off the TV and lifted her again in his arms.

She roused on the way to her bedroom.

Ronetta had taken care of things in there too, with a light on one of the bedside tables giving a soft glow.

When he set Lillian on her feet beside her bed, she gazed around vaguely, and he asked quietly, “Where can I find some blankets for the couch?”

Her head tipped back, she reached out and took his hand.

“Please stay with me?” she requested.

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