The Blanks (The Shivers Collection, #3)

by Grady Hendrix

Nothing bad happens if you leave them alone, if you just pretend they don’t exist.

When you don’t have anyone left, you still have your family.

“He should have known better,” Steven whispers, then rephrases. “We should have taught him better.” “Mistakes” is too small a word for the things parents do.

“Our daughter,” I hiss, “is not going to grow up without a father because you wanted to pop the hood and look at the engine! I am not going to be a single parent because you wanted to do performative macho bullshit!”

because you’re not supposed to see them, no one sees them; you look away, you ignore them—everyone knows you ignore them; as long as you don’t see them, everything is okay; as long as you don’t notice them, you’re lucky. You’re blessed.