There was no time to be embarrassed.

Lucia had to throw on one of Damon's long-tailed shirts and hurry to the house. There, in the bedroom where she’d been using since Julietta had gone to the hospital the first time, she hurriedly dressed and then, despairing of getting a comb through her damp, hopelessly tangled hair, she looped down the hall to find Julietta huddled in her bed.

‘‘They’re four minutes apart and they’re strong.” Julietta’s eyes were wide with dark smudges beneath. There was a waver in her voice too, but it was stronger than it had been at the hospital before. And she didn’t look panicky, just nervous....