Page 15 of Unsaid Things

Abby swallowed down her desire to insist, realizing that no one in this family expected her to pay her way. Lance and his mom both insisted on paying for things. Marissa seemed to be no different.

Marissa grabbed a pile of napkins and set them on the coffee table, settling into one corner of the couch and turning on the flat screen TV mounted on the wall. A small bookshelf sat underneath it, holding the DVD player, DVR box, and a collection of DVDs. Gabby choseEasy A, since they’d all seen it before, and they could laugh and yell at the characters without spoiling anything.

About halfway through the movie, Abby’s phone rang. She had it on vibrate, but it buzzed against the wood of the coffee table, and she reached over and silenced it. Megan’s picture flashed on the screen. Why would Megan be calling? Abby let it go to voicemail. She’d call back after the movie was over. Ten seconds later, her phone went off again with a call from Megan. What was going on?

Abby stood. “Sorry, guys. My friend Megan is calling for the second time in thirty seconds. I better see what she needs.”

Marissa reached for the remote and paused the movie while Abby answered her phone, moving into the kitchen for the illusion of privacy.

“Hey, Megan. What’s up? Is everything okay?” Abby held her breath while she waited. Did something happen to her mom? Did something happen to Megan?

“Hey, Abs. Sorry to bug you. I’m sure you’re busy having fun, but …”

She trailed off, and Abby waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “But? What’s going on?”

Megan sighed through the phone. “Have you heard from your mom?”

Abby’s brows came together, and she shook her head, even though Megan couldn’t see her. “No. Should I have? Did something happen to her?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. She’s fine. It’s just … um …”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Abby switched her phone from one hand to the other. “It’s just what, Megan? Spit it out. Is anyone in the hospital?”

“No. God, no. Everyone’s healthy. Well, Chris has a little cold, but he’ll be fine. I made him some chicken noodle soup. He’s whiny, because he’s a boy, but it’s just a runny nose and a little cough.”

“Megan! I’m sorry Chris has a cold, but what’s going on with my mom?”

“Oh, well. It’s just, I called her yesterday, and she seemed weird on the phone. Weirder than normal, I mean. And today she didn’t answer, so Chris and I went over to make sure she was okay. And, uh, your brother was there.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I know. Have you heard from him recently?”

Abby shook her head, too stunned to speak.

“Abby? Are you there?”

She had to clear her throat a couple of times to get her voice to work. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here. Sorry. No. I haven’t heard from my brother in … I don’t even know how long. Like almost two years. He’s at my mom’s house? Is he staying there? When did he get there? How long is he staying? What does he want? Why is he back?”

“I don’t know, Abs. He answered the door when Chris and I knocked and basically told us to fuck off. He wouldn’t answer any questions, just said he and your mom were fine, and Chris and I didn’t need to bother checking on her anymore. He didn’t answer when I asked if you knew he was there, so I assumed that meant no. We just got home a few minutes ago. I would’ve called sooner, but you know the signal’s crap at your mom’s house. And I didn’t know what to tell you.”

Abby shook her head again. “No, yeah. Thank you. I mean, thanks for calling me and letting me know. I had no idea. He’s been gone for so long, and I haven’t heard from him in forever. I didn’t think Mom had either, but now I don’t know. I don’t know.” She paused, her fingers over her lips. “Okay. I’m going to call Mom. Thanks for checking on her, and thanks for calling.”

“Sure. Anytime. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay. Yeah. I will. I gotta go.”

Abby ended the call, her fingers trembling as she pulled up her Mom’s contact info.

“Is everything okay?” Marissa stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a concerned look on her face.

Abby looked up. “Um, yeah. No. I don’t really know. I’ve gotta call my mom. Give me a few minutes, okay?”

Marissa nodded, backing out to go to the living room, leaving Abby to her phone call. She managed to push the button to call her mom, taking deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to stay outwardly calm, while her mind raced through all the reasons her brother might have for turning up now out of nowhere. What could he possibly want?

Her mom’s phone rang. And rang. And went to voicemail. Abby called again. This time, just when she thought it would go to voicemail again, a man’s voice answered.

“Aaron?”

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