What Happens After Dark by Jasmine Haynes Page A

breakfast nook. Outside, the sky had grown dark with impending rain, but inside, the heater was pumping stuffy, hot air into the small eating area.
    “Here’s what we can do, Mom. Since my commute won’t be as long, I can go into work about nine-thirty, which means we can get Father fed and everything before I go. Then I’ll leave work early, say about two-thirty.” Bree would tell Erin on Monday, but she already knew Erin and Dominic would support whatever was necessary. “You can have one of the respite care volunteers come in for a little while during the day, too.” The volunteer could help with meals or just let her mother get out of the house for a bit. “Plus I can work from here if I need to.”
    Her mother wrapped her hands around the mug. “Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you,” she answered, her voice listless.
    She wasn’t old, only sixty-five, yet the last few months had added years to her face. She’d stopped dyeing her hair, and it was now a harsh gray, not even a strand of her original black left. Bree had gotten her height from her mother, but now she was taller. Back stooped, shoulders slumped, her mom seemed to have lost a couple of inches, and the once vibrant blue of her eyes had been washed out of her gaze.
    Bree leaned forward to cover her mother’s hands with her own. Sitting across the table reminded her of this morning with Luke, only then he’d been the one offering the comfort, she the one in need. “I’m sorry it took me so long, Mom.”
    “I understand, dear.”
    They’d never been close. Sometimes Bree wondered what it would be like when her father was gone. Would their relationship finally have a chance to improve?
    “I know you don’t want to be here, Brianna. But I’m grateful that you’re doing it for me.”
    Brianna. Her full name. Yes, her mom was in distress. God, the screws of guilt. Bree sat back, holding her own mug so her mother wouldn’t see the tension in her hands. “It’s difficult.”
    “You won’t leave me alone at night, will you? I don’t want to be all alone in the dark if . . .” Her mom bit her lip. “You know, if something happens.”
    Yeah, Bree knew. Her mother didn’t want to be alone when he died. For just a moment, she was pissed as hell that her father had refused to go into a hospice care facility. It would have been so much easier on everyone, him included, especially her mom, but he had said no. He could be such a selfish bastard.
    “I won’t leave you alone at night.” God, what if she needed Luke? What if she had to see him or go crazy? Did the volunteers come in when you needed to see your master?
    “I love you, Bree.”
    She wanted to say the words, too, but her brain wouldn’t form them and her lips couldn’t say them. “We’ll get through this, Mom.”
    They lapsed into their own thoughts. The house was so quiet. Usually her father was calling for this, that, or the other. He’d always been a big presence. Though not a tall man, he’d been stocky and thickly built. Older than her mother by five years, he’d made his living as a car mechanic. He’d had his own shop until a few years ago when his customer base dropped off. He’d blamed the failure on the new-fangled electronics on cars, but he wasn’t a man who easily changed his ways. That’s when he’d gone downhill, when he didn’t have his work anymore. The cancer seemed like a byproduct of his disappointment in what life had left him with. The only good thing to be said was that he’d made sure there was enough in savings for her mother to live decently once he was gone.
    “Did you hear that?” her mother said, jumping to her feet, knocking her mug over, and rushing out of the breakfast nook. A milky tea stain spilled across the lacy tablecloth, but she hadn’t even noticed in her haste.
    That’s how Bree had grown up, exactly like her mother, jumping whenever her father demanded something.
    She wondered if she and her mom would still be jumping