(Nolan)
I didn’t go back to the jewelry store after I left it. That part was done the moment I stepped outside, and I knew pushing Ben again would only make him shut down harder the next time I showed up. He’d already given me what he was willing to give, and anything more would have to come from somewhere else. People like him don’t fold under pressure from strangers, they just get quieter, and I don’t need quiet.
Mom started talking the second I pulled away from the curb like silence made her uncomfortable. She kept looking out the window, then back at me, then back at the street like the answers were going to show themselves if she watched long enough. She always does that when she feels like she’s missing something important. It makes her restless, and that restlessness turns into qu
