Minutes later, Dad walked in through the front door. He was tall and muscular, with a square jaw, short jet black hair, and sharp green eyes. He sighed, removing his hat before placing it onto a coat rack along with his tan trench coat. I had not moved from my seat in the sitting room in sight of the front door. Dad turned to me, his expression revealing nothing, before turning to Mom, who had just then walked over to him. They whispered back and forth for a moment before Dad silently walked towards the dining room as Mom walked to me.
"Come join us for dinner." Softly, she said. "There is nothing any of us can do until tomorrow morning."
Slowly, reluctantly, I stood up and followed Mom into the dining room where Dad and my adopted little brother, Ty, were already sitting down waiting for dinner to be served.
Ty was only seven, and was rather shy, usually keeping thoughts to himself, though he frowned slightly upon seeing the tears forming in my eyes. He turned to Mom, who gave him a reassuring smile before she began serving dinner. Getting no answer he liked, he turned to me and placed a hand onto mine. "You okay?" Worried, he asked.
"She had a bad night, kiddo." Softly, Dad said. "Enough said, for now."
Ty sighed, then turned to me. "It'll be okay, sis." Smiling, she said. "We always work things out."
I managed to give Ty a weak smile for his attempt to reassure me, though he could not possibly fathom how deep in trouble I believed I was in. I gulped as a flash of light flashed outside, followed by a clap of thunder.
"The storm is coming in earlier than predicted." Flatly, Mom muttered.
Dad shook his head. "Nope." Softly, he retorted. "It's right on time."
"You asked them to come early?" Surprised, Mom demanded.
Dad grunted. "It is better to get this over with now." Serious, he said. "Brooke is frightened enough; no need to make things worse by making her wait."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. I cringed as Dad excused himself from the table, and opened the door to reveal...
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