Chapter 1

Diane had been talking about Ava's return for three weeks.

Cole had nodded in the right places, made the right sounds, helped set up the guest room with fresh sheets and new curtains because Diane wanted everything perfect. He had done all of it with the calm efficiency he brought to most things and had not thought particularly hard about it.

Ava had been gone for two years. She had left for university in another city at nineteen with a single duffel bag and the specific energy of someone who could not get out of the house fast enough. She called her mother every Sunday. She did not...