Chapter 3

Once they'd gone, I called my mother. She picked up on the second ring, warm the way she always was, those long, flat northern Michigan vowels landing like a hand on my back. "Claire? Honey? Everything okay?" I held my voice together with both hands and told her I'd be home for Thanksgiving. A pause. When she spoke again, she was careful, the way you are around a fresh bandage. "…You will? Does…