Chapter 4
The next morning, Ethan put an empty cooler on the kitchen counter.
“We leave tomorrow. The groceries still need packing.”
“You’ll need to pack them yourself.”
He lifted the lid, then looked at me as though I hadn’t understood.
“Noah needs to eat too, Madison.”
“There will be three adults on this trip. One of you can buy his food.”
I took the grocery list from the refrigerator and laid it inside the cooler. Then I placed a folded sheet of paper beside it.
“What’s that?”
“I want us to separate.”
He opened it. Four short sentences: Sophie and I were spending Christmas with my father. I wasn’t paying for his trip or preparing it. After the holiday, we would arrange how to live apart.
“If I cancel, will you stop this?”
“I’m not asking you to cancel. I’m telling you I want to separate.”
He folded the paper along the crease I’d made and set it down.
“You’ve made your point.”
He went upstairs, leaving the cooler open.
I called Daniel, the cabin manager. Vanessa had her own door code from the weekends Ethan had arranged for her and Noah.
“Please deactivate Vanessa’s code,” I said. “Leave Ethan’s active.”
Daniel confirmed the change and arranged rooms at the nearby lodge. The guests would pay on arrival.
I sent Ethan and Vanessa the same message.
Vanessa’s door code has been deactivated. Ethan’s still works. Daniel has arranged rooms at the lodge if you need them. You’ll be responsible for the cost.
Vanessa replied almost immediately.
Why would you turn off my code? Noah’s things are already there.
His things are safe. We can arrange for you to collect them. Your code is staying off.
I set my phone down and zipped Sophie’s suitcase. Her purple gloves were still in the drawer. I tucked them into the side pocket.
Ethan appeared in the doorway with his phone.
“Just turn it back on. She hasn’t done anything to you.”
“She doesn’t need her own key to my home.”
“You know how this makes her feel?”
He held the phone toward me, Vanessa’s message filling the screen. Behind him, Sophie’s packed bag waited by the stairs.
“Yes,” I said. “You’ve told me.”
By the following afternoon, Sophie and I were at my father’s house.
He’d put an extra hook beside the front door for her coat. At the dining table, she carefully straightened the silver angel’s crooked wing.
My phone rang.
“We’re at the cabin,” Vanessa said. “The code isn’t working.”
“I told you yesterday it was deactivated.”
“I thought you would have turned it back on by now.”
Sophie held the angel up toward the tree, judging where it should go. I turned toward the window.
“Ethan’s code works.”
“He stopped for groceries. It’s just me, Mom, and Noah.”
“The lodge has rooms ready. I sent you the address.”
Vanessa let out a sharp breath.
“So we’re supposed to stay in a hotel while Ethan goes into the cabin?”
“You can go to the lodge now or wait for him.”
“Madison, just open the door.”
My father came in carrying a step stool. Sophie pointed to a branch she couldn’t reach.
“I told you before you left,” I said. “Your code is staying off.”
I ended the call.
“Mom, can you help me hang it?”
I put my phone on the table and went to her.
Before we reached the tree, the screen lit up again.
Ethan.