Page 26 (1/2)

1

Tristan

A headache stirs behind my eyes

I’m impatient

I’overnor’s seat There is definitely no time for a secret side trip to the wilds of North Carolina to collect a ard child

I stare across the limousine to where htly on the seat, completely ena our destination Night has fallen and the sun is hidden behind the ancient, gnarled trees that line the dirt road on which we’re traveling Toward the backwoods marshland wherefor herself

“I had no idea my ex-husband was dead,” Rebecca whispers into the tense silence “You believe hter down here alone I would have come sooner…”

My nod is tight The explanation hardly matters

Only a solution

Which is e’ve co the child to Connecticut

My father and Rebecca h, I’eration, noapplied to An excuse people make when they’re needy for companionship

Whether or not my father and Rebecca truly love each other is irrelevant, though For the past two years,in Hartford, Connecticut Her daughter has been down here in North Carolina with her father Happy to rerew up Or so we assumed Only yesterday did Rebecca find out her ex-husband had passed away a year prior,by herself, without a diuidance

Everything that happens in or around my family has a direct effect on overnor of Connecticut and on ood if sohter, leaving them to starve penniless in so my stepsister to civilization

I really don’t have time for this

The lihtly curious about where the girl has been living

Jesus