Jodi finished a window. “Dad never let me near a pool because my mom drowned in our bathtub after taking too many painkillers.” And after a pause, “I was in the tub with her. I think she wanted me to die, too.” Her throat felt choked again, that same sensation from earlier. There was nothing else she could say without cracking into a million pieces. It was too quiet. The silence forced her to face him. There wasn’t pity in his gaze or a rush to say the right words. He just looked at her and saw her. “Maybe she did. But I don’t want you to,” he said. Like it was as simple as that.
