Chapter 19
Evelyn died in prison when Matthew was sixteen.
The call came through Nora.
I sat with it for a long time before telling Claire.
She closed her eyes.
“How do you feel?”
“Lighter. Sad. Angry that I feel sad.”
Claire nodded.
“She was your mother.”
“She tried to bury you alive.”
“Both can be true.”
We told Matthew that evening.
He listened quietly.
“Do we go to a funeral?”
“No,” I said.
“Do you want to?”
I thought about the woman who raised me.
The woman who lied to me.
The woman who nearly killed my wife and son.
“No.”
Matthew nodded.
“Then we stay home.”
So we did.
Rose came over.
Detective Holt came too.
Nora brought files and dessert.
We ate together under warm lights.
Not celebrating death.
Celebrating safety.
Later, Claire and I sat on the porch.
“She doesn’t get to be the ending,” Claire said.
“No.”
“What does?”
I looked through the window at Matthew laughing with Rose.
“That.”
May you like
Claire leaned against me.
“Yes,” she whispered. “That.”
