"I'm afraid so." Ashlee didn't see the point of explaining everything that happened leading up to Gerald's attack. No one needed to know anything about that, or the fact that he'd basically kicked her out of his life, not that she'd been sorry about it at the time. Either way, she hadn't left the property and they were still legally married, so none of what happened was even important.

"Okay, well, that's that, I guess," Darlene said in a monotone. "Do you need any help with arrangements or anything like that?"

Gerald's daughter was barely fazed by the news. Ashlee knew they weren't close, but she thought maybe it would...