Slipping - Book 1.5 in the Swans Landing series

Chapter 12

When I woke later, I felt Mara’s absence right away.

The sheets were still warm from where she had lay, but she wasn’t there next to me. I sat up, panicked that she had left. We hadn’t done anything more than sleep, but it had been the best sleep of my life.

In the darkened room, I spotted her standing at the end of the bed. She examined the picture that hung on the wall there, the one made of hundreds of tiny seashells. An ocean scene, with a woman walking along the shore. A woman who carried a baby.

Did she know where that picture had come from? Did she know her father had created it?

“Mmm,” I said, rubbing at my eyes and trying to look as if I’d just woken up. “What time is it?”

Mara didn’t answer. Instead she grabbed her jacket off the floor and slipped her arms into it. I watched her silently.

“So that’s an interesting picture,” she said after a moment.

I looked at the picture, then at the floor. “Yeah. It was my mom’s. Someone gave it to her years ago.”

“And now it’s yours,” she said.

I shrugged. “She didn’t want it. It seemed like a shame to throw it away. It obviously took a lot of time to create.”

“Do you know who that is supposed to be?” Mara asked, pointing at the little figures in the corner.

“No. Just a person, I guess.”

Neither of us moved in the silent room, the tension heavy in the air. Lake had given the picture to my mom after my dad died. After Mara’s mom left Swans Landing. I didn’t know why. My mom had kept it in a closet for a while, but when she found me going through my dad’s old things, she had thrown the picture in the trash along with other things. I had rescued it and kept it hung in my room since then.

The sound of the front door opening and closing echoed down the hall toward us.

“Is it after six already?” Panic welled inside me. “You need to get out of here.”

“I have to walk back out there to get out.”

I jumped out of bed and pulled the blinds back. But unlike many of the houses in Swans Landing, mine didn’t have a wraparound porch. We were at least ten feet off the ground. I couldn’t make Mara attempt a jump.

“Maybe I can distract her and you can slip by,” I said.

“Is your mom going to kill you if she finds a girl in your room?” Mara asked.

I bit his lip. “Not just any girl. You.”

Confusion and hurt passed across Mara’s face, but I didn’t have time to explain. I opened my door just a crack and peered into the hall. Mom’s footsteps clicked across the kitchen floor.

“This is ridiculous,” Mara said. “You’re seventeen years old. It’s time to stop being afraid of your mom.”

“Stay here,” I told her. “I’ll try to figure out a way to distract her so you can leave. All right?”

Mara sat down on the edge of the bed. “Fine.”

I walked down the hall, forcing myself to move casually. Don’t seem nervous, I reminded myself. Just get her distracted long enough that Mara can leave.

“Mom?” I asked as I stepped into the kitchen. “How was your doctor’s appointment?”

Mom jumped at my voice. “Josh? I didn’t think you were home. The house was dark and quiet.”