Jessa

I watched Jackson mutter something under his breath and stalk off toward the stairs.

His bedroom door shut a second later.

The sound echoed in the house like punctuation.

For a moment, it was just me and Mom standing in the living room, the air still thick with everything that had just happened.

I turned slowly.

“…Was that really necessary?” I asked.

Mom’s face tightened, like she’d been holding herself together by sheer will.

“Jessa,” she said ...