The Truth About Mallory Bain Read Online Free Page A

best.”
    â€œYou need a bedtime snack more filling than a salad or sweets. Hope you like the sandwich I’m making.”
    Truth be told, I had skipped the salad at the diner to save the five dollars.
    I nodded at our suitcases by the kitchen door. “Thanks for grabbing those. They’re too heavy for you.”
    â€œThe big ones and the dress bags were. I dragged them in one at a time. You can haul them upstairs yourself whenever you’re ready.”
    Mom swished back and forth in her pink, terry scuffs. She wore her signature mid-length dress—beige, a delicate crinkled cotton. Her brown hair, loosely twisted up beneath a silver-plated hair clip, revealed threads of gray, ordinarily hidden when she let down her hair, I supposed.
    She set the plate in front of me on the breakfast bar—ham and cheese with all the fixings. I picked up a dill pickle slice bordering the bread and chomped down as I scooted onto one of the four rattan stools. She chose the stool beside me and poured our tea into mugs.
    My mother sitting beside me gave me tremendous comfort. I’d almost forgotten. This vintage home, where my parents raised my three siblings and me, offered protection besides comfort. Assuming we had ever needed protection, we certainly no longer needed Chad now that we were living here.
    I bit into my sandwich and spoke with my mouth full, letting a sloppy tomato slice fall back onto my plate. “This is delicious.”
    She patted my knee to let me know she guessed I hadn’t eaten much since yesterday. Mom was polite enough not to say so, and sipped her tea.
    â€œTell me about the trip.” She set down her mug and listened intently. I wasn’t used to having such undivided attention.
    â€œWe stopped more often than I would have had I driven alone. Kids get antsy fast.”
    â€œShort attention span.”
    â€œYou know it. Before lunch and after lunch, he talked me into stopping in different small towns, where we drove around until we found a park for him to play. The exercise did him good, but put us behind.”
    She stirred more sugar into her mug and handed me another napkin from the holder in front of her. “He must have thought of the trip as an adventure.”
    I sipped my tea. “Seeing the movers load our stuff onto the truck really got him going, except he wanted his new bike in the trunk. He refused to let strangers take it.”
    â€œSpeaking of your car, I put it in the garage.”
    â€œThank you.” I hesitated, not sure if she’d be alarmed. “Mom, did you notice a motorcycle stop at the end of your driveway?”
    â€œI did. I suppose the noise woke Caleb.”
    â€œNo. It was odd that the man stopped. Do you know him?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œHas he stopped before?”
    â€œNot that I ever noticed. I’ll bet you’re missing Ben again since you’re back home.”
    â€œA little.” I stayed focused on the man at the end of the driveway. “Him stopping concerns me, Mom. He was looking up at the garages. Probably when you were out there all alone moving my car.”
    â€œI was fine. I come and go all the time at night. I never get scared.”
    â€œYou should pay more attention.”
    She focused on her tea. I ate my sandwich. I tabled my concerns for another time.
    â€œYour movers showed up around three. Such a small truck. I had them unload the rest of your things in Daddy’s workroom downstairs.” She paused thoughtfully. “There wasn’t much furniture, Mallory.”
    â€œWhat you see is what you get. What we didn’t want or need sold in May at a garage sale. We split the cash.”
    Cash for emergencies and our fresh start. We also had less to transport, although enough to arrange for a mover, which I managed to contract on short notice thanks to the son of one of my neighbors.
    After our house sold, I rented an apartment month to month because its location