23
Nick had gone to the airport with Mom and Zoya despite Mom’s protestations.
“What for? It’s unnecessary, we can get there on our own. You’ve got homework to do.”
Nick didn’t think she was actively avoiding looking him in the eye, but he never seemed to quite catch her gaze. It lodged in the pit of his stomach, a whine of sadness he couldn’t seem to shake. He got tired of glancing at Zoya for support, got tired of talking around his bombshell like it had never happened.
It had happened. It clung to every awkward, stilted conversation, the splatter of it coating all three of them at once. Every silent walk through a park, every formally asked question about where they could get lunch or dinner.
The day Nick had been allowed to rejoin them, his mother hadn’t said a single word about w
