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I poured the wine and took a sip Heavenly

Odd choice of word, I thought Did I believe Jesse was so down at what had become of his wife? I wasn’t sure I kind of hoped not When Jesse died (I’d stopped using the euphes people said to ularity--he’s alith you and he’s in a better place Try as I ht, I couldn’t see how both of those could be true at the same time When I was honest with myself, I hoped neither was accurate If he ith me, then he could see e with the life we’d built together And how could anyone think there was a better place for Jesse than with his wife and child? That thought, meant to cohts to shift--ould Jesse’s version of heaven be? Probably a glorified Container Store Jesse was seriously organized--we both were Every single thing in our house had a place We both took great pleasure in our coated, private subdivision on the outskirts of Willow Falls, with its own rules and bylaws Jesse and I loved rules and bylaws We loved order For us, the best day could be described as one that ran "slass, and there was only a s left, as randmother used to say Jesse and I used to open a bottle every Friday night We’d each have two glasses, then two glasses on Saturday, with dinner we ordered from our favorite Italian restaurant I held up the bottle and poureddoay too easily when I re at Colin’s place, and I hadn’t yet spoken to hisTrey, but our rough childhoodsautoiven readily; it was earned only after careful observation and analysis of actions I’d neverunder her roof The prevailing attitude around here seemed to be if you could afford to live in Willow Falls, you at least checked soood person" attributes But Jesse and I knee could never buy into that kind of naïveté We’d seen too hborhood, looking for drugs and trouble They usually bought the first and caused a great deal of the latter

I foundaround in my purse and checked to see if Trey texted me her number He had, and I s he should be doing, like keeping a promise

Her name was Charlene

She answered just before it switched over to voice mail with a clipped, "Yes"

I introduced ht one out when she said, "Trey says you have no running water in your home"

"We have water!" I said defensively "Just not hot I uy, but today’s been craz--"

"Trey devoured his dinner He said there’s often not any food in your house"

I took a deep breath Wasn’t this the wouys-are-now-adults kind ofthe best I can since my husband died" I didn’t often play thecard, but if there was a situation that called for it, this was it

"Trey said that o years ago" It was a statement, but also an accusation

She waited forBig Frank said to onna have to deal with people who’ve never had to grieve before "I’ to keep my voice even

"I’e "And I cansyine"

No, I thought You can’t

"Perhaps you need to be a little more open to help," Charlene said "Have you tried therapy?"