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That was the first time she’d spoken his name to her parents since the day after the funeral Their faces went slightly rigid, as if there was no way any real e thatto pull back, not now It was time to talk about this Eventually, when they learned she could still speak to Dakota, they’d be so grateful

"His sister died when he was about e," she said "So he understood about Dakota About ho you try to push the person you lost away, but you can’t You have to hold on to them, on to how much you loved them Because you don’t lose soet the love you had together"

There was a lasses and tucked the probleht you were far too sensible to getlike that"

"I told you we should have stayed in Albany," her ed, like, Score one for you

And that was it They hadn’t even acknowledged that she’d said anything about Dakota They were sorry they’d come home for her at all

"Dad Moh to them Okay, so it would take a little work She couldn’t expect the to talk about Dakota again?"

Sharply, her otten your brother, Skye But we all handle things in our oays We’ve tried to respect your grief; you have to respect ours"

When had they ever tried to respect her grief? When had they ever done anything but expect her to handle this the sa her brother into the darkness of the past?

Dozens of ies from the past year flickered in Skye’s mind, illuminated differently than they had been before, and finally in true focus: Her father glancing away from the photos of Dakota in her rooave up and put theone about business as usual the afternoon following the funeral, and how Skye had felt bad for crying when they could be so "brave"

How they’d expected her to care for herself froht to bury themselves in work How she’d accepted that absurdity as so she could do for them And for aThey had coht, after all; it wasn’t as if they didn’t love her Skye knew perfectly well that they did

But no she realized her parents were so deep in denial that they would never get out

And they expected her to go on denying her brother’s death with the his life