They all miss you, you know, but I wonder if he misses you the most. Maybe because he spent so much time with you last year. Sometimes I think he’d like to talk to me but I always change the subject. It’s just too hard right now. Maybe soon. Remember when I asked you about my mother? Not about the stories you used to tell, but how she was when she died. That sort of thing. So you took me for a walk along the creek, and you showed me how to skim stones. And I’m sure we talked about her because I remember that’s why we went for the walk, but I don’t really remember what was said. So maybe you did what I’m doing now. Changing the subject. Deflecting. PS: How about this: She paused by the child’s bed for a long time that night. So long that she was in danger of being too late. Wondering if that was a choice in itself. It was the following Monday before Kate was given the chance to start sorting through the things she had reclaimed from underneath the Lysterfield house. But even then, with the unit to herself, she hesitated.
