CHAPTER 2: THE DRIVE HOME
Hannah didn't speak for the first twenty minutes.
She sat in the passenger seat, hugging herself, her face pressed against the cold window. The bruises on her cheek were already darkening into shades of purple and black. A thin line of dried blood traced the corner of her mouth.
I drove with both hands on the wheel, my knuckles white, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
When we reached the city limits, Hannah finally spoke.
"Mom, I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"For not telling you. For letting it get this bad. For making you see that."
"Hannah, you didn't make me see anything. They did."
She shook her head.
"I thought I could fix it. I thought if I tried harder, if I was better, if I did everything they asked—"
"They would have kept moving the goalposts. That's what abusers do. They make you think it's your fault so you never leave."
She looked at me.
"How do you know that?"
I was quiet for a moment.
"Because I lived it."
Hannah's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Before your father. Before the diner. I was married to a man named Robert. He was charming, handsome, wealthy. He convinced me I was lucky to have him. Then he started controlling me. Isolating me. Hitting me."
"Mom—"
"I got out. Barely. I didn't have anyone to save me, so I saved myself. And then I made a promise."
"What promise?"
"That I would never be powerless again. And that I would never let anyone I loved be powerless either."
Hannah started crying.
"I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you. I should have left years ago."
"You're leaving now. That's what matters."
"But Grant—"
"Grant is a dead man walking. He just doesn't know it yet."
Hannah stared at me.
"Mom, you don't have the power to fight them. They have lawyers, money, connections. They'll destroy the diner. They'll take everything."
I looked at her.
"Hannah, I've been cooking meatloaf in a diner for twenty-three years. Do you really think that's all I've been doing?"
She was silent.
May you like
I pulled into the alley behind Carter's Table and parked.
"Come inside. I have something to show you."
