A reminder not to answer Marcus until we had decided what I should say.
Maybe another instruction about records.
My phone rang while Noah was still focused on his pancakes.
I looked at the screen and saw Patricia’s name.
I answered quietly.
“Hi.”
Her tone was different this time.
Not panicked.
Not dramatic.
Just more deliberate.
The kind of voice people use when they have checked something twice before telling you.
I turned slightly away from the table so Noah wouldn’t see my face change.
Patricia did not begin by asking about Marcus.
She did not ask whether Diane had called.
She did not ask whether I had taken enough photographs.
Her first sentence changed the entire morning.
“The guest room isn’t the whole story.”
