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“Mom?”

Savannah turned toward her daughter, who stood in the doorway in bright red rain boots, the silver chopsticks Margot brought back froh her hair

“I brought you so right for the bed with a plate of food

The plate had all of Katie’s favorites—Margot’s pralines, barbecue potato chips and an apple next to a pile of peanut butter

“Thank you, sweetie,” Savannah said, et that peanut butter on the apple?”

Katie picked up the bright red fruit and rolled it in the peanut butter

Savannah laughed so hard tears burned her eyes

“Thank you,” she whispered when Katie handed her the ry, but she didn’t have the heart to tell Katie that

“Hey, Mom? Who is Matt?”

Savannah’s nuers couldn’t hold the fruit and it fell to the floor with a thunk, peanut butter everywhere

“I honestly don’t know,” she said “He lied to us”

“Did you know him before?”

“Before?” she asked, looking down at her daughter “Before what?”

“Did you have sex?”

Savannah choked

“You told me about sex, Mom”

“I know,” she said She’d told her daughter about death, drugs, Republicans, homosexuality and where babies come from Just not where she’d come from “But I don’t think I want to talk about my sex life with you”

“But you had sex with that Matt guy?”

“Why are you asking retted it Katie stared down at her fingers, put back a praline and sighed

“I’”

“Is Matt leaving?” Katie asked, and Savannah was grateful for an eight-year-old’s attention span

She’d never claile mother

“Yes,” she said, feeling a door slam shut No reen eyes watching her Noits way up the stairs to her rooht No fun No recklessness Noamuck