Jacey

“But she couldn't stop laughing, because here it was. Here was Duvall's anger. Here was his violence. Here was the thing she'd been trying to avoid this whole time, the thing that she'd run away from last night, the thing that had made her weep in her bed with fear and hunger and urgent need.
He was no bigger than the men who'd died beneath her bed when she was a child. His anger was no greater than their fear had been. She'd been so afraid of what his anger might unlock in her, but here it was, pointed right at her, and it was so small. He was clenching his fists and stomping his feet and shouting as if that could touch her.”
― Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home

“Heat flared in Vera's chest, because it wasn't time or circumstance that had pulled them apart. Old fury warred with a deep and profound hunger to hear these words, to hear her mother telling her that she was wanted, that she'd always been wanted, and Vera pressed her palm to her mouth to keep from gasping at the pain of those two emotions meeting each other.”
― Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home

“The wet slapping noise comes again, followed by a thick gurgling gasp. Vera squeezes her eyes shut so tight that they ache and she grips her quit hard, and she decides that the time has come to be as brave as she can, because if she isn't brave it will get her.”
― Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home

“Vera knows her cue. The police officers part so she can race up the steps to where Daphne's open arms are waiting. She hugs Daphne tight, breathes in that dishsoap and hairspray smell that means rules and disapproval and safety.
Her mother's hands rest lightly on her shoulders.
After a few seconds, Vera allows her mother to push her away. She looks up and sees warm satisfaction in the pressed-thin line of Daphne's mouth. Vera has accomplished the necessary task of showing strangers that she is loved, that she is cared for, that everything at home is just fine.
Her mother's approval settles over her like a jacket that's just a little too thin for the weather.”
― Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home