The house was silent when Flanna and Jason crept in just before four. There had been no further signs of disturbances, and though Jason had stopped at one point to scan the horizon, he’d shaken off her questions with denials anything was wrong.
“I thought I could…” he’d started, but then hesitated, eyes narrowed as he looked again around them. “It’s nothing. Let’s go home.”
Home. It had always been one of her favorite words, but now it seemed to hold extra meaning, as if Jason’s being there gave it added warmth. He held her hand the entire walk back, though the light touch of his fingers on hers, the barely there way he tangled them together, made it feel like a purely unconscious gesture. And they talked, well, continued talking, moving beyond the topics of mothers and fathers and histo
