Chapter 76

“I don’t know,” I say, and tears start to well.

“Oh, honey, no.”

She gets up at once, sits beside me, and I curl into her, letting her hug and rock me. She doesn’t say anything, and I’m glad. I don’t want to talk. I don’t want advice. I don’t want to relive every awful minute. I just want to be held. To be comforted.

After a while I get sleepy, so I stretch out in the easy chair and pull the crocheted blanket Cass found at Goodwill last year up to my shoulders.

“At least let me open the sleeper,” she says.

I shake my head. I’m too tired to move, and as sleep overtakes me, I hear her calling someone.

“I don’t know if she’ll go to work tomorrow or not. But if she does, it’ll be late. Okay, thanks, Jamie. Ask Ryan to let Rachel—or whoever—know. Sounds good. See you Friday, and tell me if you need help getting ready for the party.”

I mean to tell her I’m absolutely going to work, that I won’t let my personal life interfere, but no words come. Th