The park was—God—it was too noisy. Swings screaming, that metallic screech getting into her skull. Kids running all over, feet kicking up hot sand, the air sticking to her skin with sweat and… that sickly cotton candy smell. Camille’s chest felt locked up. She couldn’t breathe right. Her heart wasn’t even beating steady—just banging, like it was trying to get out.

James’s text kept playing in her head—Ellie’s playdate’s today. Over and over. And then the other thing he’d written before, about that fire—You got a family. I didn’t. She could almost hear him saying it, like he was standing right behind her.

Ellie was over on the red slide,...