Chapter 9 - Leaving Without Asking Him to FollowWhen it was time to leave, Gideon carried my bags.
Mallory walked beside me while I held my daughter.
Outside, the October air was cool and bright. Trees along the hospital entrance had turned copper and deep red.
Bennett stood several feet away near his car.
He seemed smaller than he had two days earlier.
“Tessa,” he called.
I stopped but did not walk toward him.
“Can I come to the house later?”
“My attorney will contact you.”
“That is my home too.”
Gideon opened the passenger door.
I looked at Bennett one final time.
“It was a home because I believed we were a family. You treated it like an asset you were waiting to claim.”
He had no answer.
I placed my daughter carefully into her seat.
Before closing the door, I looked back.
May you like
“You had two hours with us before you gave everything else away.”
Then I left.
