Chapter 5

I closed Evan's door behind me and didn't go to Nathan's office.

His suitcase was still open on the carpet, with a few changes of clothes stacked beside the bed. The half of the closet Nathan had cleared for him was still empty.

When Evan called me "Mom," he'd been gripping the zipper of that suitcase the whole time.

He'd been here for four days, still waiting for an answer Nathan had told him he would eventually get.

I went back to my bedroom, found Olivia's number in a school email Nathan had forwarded to me a few days earlier,…