ly

layroom at a small table. A plate of un

As I did, I started talking in a low, calm voice, telling him a story about a frog I had dissec

his small hand reach out an

e drew side-by-side at an easel. We read books on opposite ends of a s

age that was always in my mind: a woman's profile, blurre

e. He pointed a small

," I said softl

o form a word, but nothing came out. Instead, he picked up a black crayon. Next to my sketch,

nder

mething

mething to the page. Next to the crying stick figure, he had drawn anothe

ide him. "I

nod

lf. "And this one... is this how you feel? Lik

gain, his e

space on the page. "

fell. Then, in a voice made rough fro

... no

me. And he wasn't asking a factual question-he was asking if

calm. Any sudden movement could send

hisper. "My mom is in the hospital. I still have

aus

u have

. He gave a small, almost imp

," he w

y of juice. He heard Noah's whispered words. The tray in his

ed, I was in my cotta

lb

ern. "Anabel and I have set the date. We'd be h

o staggering, it

st be j

ts. And Holly... your father mentioned th

at was l

w you're being a team player.

ing. The jilted ex-fiancée, smiling and carry

ely cruel form

erously quiet. "Tell Anabel to find someone else

rd the main house. A light was on in Noah's room. I thought of his whispered words,

was staring at a bank of security m

Miss Vaughn. He ask

ht flared in his eyes. He leaned forward, his k

it a

e mask. He watched her patient calm. He watched his son turn to her and speak. He

woman, in two days, had breached a wall that a y