“Of October,” I said.
“Of October,” Ben said. “Five days ago.”
Ezoic
I looked around my living room.
Ezoic
At the four enormous suitcases. The two coolers. The folding crib. The beach chairs. The boxes.
Not a vacation.
Everything they owned.
“Where have you been for five days?” I asked.
Melissa wiped her eyes with the sleeve of my robe.
“At Mom and Dad’s,” she said. “Until Tuesday. Until they closed. Then at a Days Inn in Durham. For two nights.”
She laughed. A terrible, broken laugh.
“Then Mom said, Let’s go to Morgan’s.”
I turned and looked at my mother.
“Let’s go to Morgan’s,” I repeated.
My mother had her phone in her hand. Clutched against her cardigan.
Ezoic
The phone she’d turned face-down last night.
Ezoic
“Mom,” I said. “What were you going to tell me?”
My mother went pale.
“What do you mean?”
“Aunt Linda texted you,” I said. “At 4:47. Did you tell her yet about the house? Or are you waiting till she’s settled?”
