Shattered Silence

Vance didn’t say anything at first, just exhaled slowly. I gestured toward the food.

“Come join us for breakfast?”

There was a pause and then, with a shake of his head and a muttered “Sure”, he walked over and pulled out a chair.

And just like that, we were all pretending again. Like nothing had happened. Like everything was fine.

Soon after breakfast, Vance, Lydia, and Bella left. The house felt