The Longer The Fall Aviva Gat (scary books to read .txt) 📖

“Or woman,” She retorted, catching Mrs. Albertson’s eyes for just a moment before they pulled away from the crowd. With the boys buckled in the car, the Thomas family began the drive home.

“Mom, are you going to need to find a job?” Adam asked from the backseat. Madeline turned back, catching Brandon’s eyes for a moment before she did.

“I already have a job, sweetie,” she assured him, still facing backward. She recognized the concern in her son’s eyes. So young, but with such compassion for others. The kind of child who would make sure others had a cookie before he ate his own, who last year had asked to give away a few of his birthday presents to kids who had fewer toys than he did.

“Jamie said you’re about to lose your job,” Noah said. He was looking out the window, his tone bored and matter-of-fact.

“Jamie is wrong,” Madeline responded. She was still facing back at her boys, even though the craning made her neck ache. “Everything is going to be fine.” She sincerely hoped.

“Who wants to stop for ice cream?” Brandon suggested.

“Me!” Adam shouted. Noah still sat quietly looking out the window, but Madeline turned back forward. She faced forward just in time to see another Austin for Senate sign in somebody’s lawn.

“How can you be so sure?” Noah said. “Jamie said in a few weeks no one will even think you have a chance.”

“You believe Jamie over your mother?” Madeline peeked back again at Noah who shrugged as though pretending not to care.

“Why aren’t you two working today? Molly usually gets us.” Noah continued to speak in his monotone voice. Brandon pulled the car into a parking lot in front of a small strip mall with an ice cream shop.

“We wanted to spend the afternoon together,” Brandon responded.

“Because something bad is happening? Like mom losing her job?”

“I’m not losing my job.”

“Are you getting divorced then? Matt said his parents took him to get ice cream when they told him they were getting divorced.”

“We’re not getting divorced,” Brandon said as he put the car in park. “It’s just ice cream.” As the family got out of the car and walked toward the ice cream shop, Madeline had the strange feeling of being watched. Not by anyone in particular, but like she was in a fishbowl. As a public figure, she often felt this way, but something was different. She felt as though she were a mouse running through a maze as scientists nodded and analyzed her every move, wondering when she would mess up.

Over ice cream Madeline listened to Adam talk about a cricket he had found during recess. He wanted to keep it and had brought it into his classroom by hiding it under his shirt. He them snuck it into his lunch box, but sadly, the poor cricket had died by lunch time. But Adam had given him a proper burial under the flowers near the school’s administration building. Noah ate his ice cream silently, only speaking to make fun of his little brother’s story.

To Madeline, this time, sitting with her family, thinking about the poor cricket’s downfall, rather than her own, was a needed respite from what she had been going through. It reminded her that even with everything that was going on, she could still find joy. There was still meaning and love in her life even when they seemed missing from other parts.

After ice cream, the family headed home and back to their own lives—Brandon to his laptop and headphones on the couch, Adam to the yard with a basketball and a hoop, and Noah to his room with his video games. Madeline watched her family scatter, before going to her own spot, the kitchen table, where she would call Jane and discuss with her their response to Austin’s campaign launch. Surely the team had been working hard to come up with a plan. How she could beat him, how they needed to change her strategy. She had full confidence that her team’s brainpower could outsmart any other campaign staff’s. She was ready to go over plans with Jane, but it just wouldn’t happen that afternoon.

Instead, the doorbell rang. Madeline stood up to answer it, meeting Brandon at the front door. The couple opened the door to a UPS deliveryman who handed them a cardboard envelope. The deliveryman, who drove this route often but rarely stopped at the Thomas residence, smiled politely and greeted the couple a good day, not knowing the chaos he was handing them in that flat brown envelope.

Brandon followed Madeline into the kitchen to watch her open it, but when Madeline saw what was inside, she wished he hadn’t. She wished he would never see what was inside.

Chapter 23

For their honeymoon Madeline and Brandon had flown to Italy for a week. Their apartment was full of boxes from their registry—china sets, silverware, crystal bowls, enough serving utensils for the couple to host dinner parties every night for a week without washing a thing. Madeline had already finished handwriting more than 200 thank you cards that she had personalized for each guest (Salad tongs have always reminded me of you! It was lovely dancing together at the wedding! You looked stunning in your gown! You’ll have to tell me your secret!) and had dropped them off at the post office on their way to the airport.

They had their trip fully planned out—which hotels they would stay at, restaurants they had already reserved tables at, a cooking class where they would learn to make tortellini, tours of the Vatican, the Colosseum, a day trip to Pompeii, a walking tour of Rome. Days would be busy, so busy that by the evenings, Madeline was sure they would be exhausted. They would likely go straight to sleep without