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“Of course,” I say “I’ll drive”

Her lower lip trembles “Thank you, Blaire That would be nice”

Odette follows me to my rental car, and she doesn’t say a word until we’re five miles from Greenspout

“How did he fall?” I ask

She clears her throat, picking at a loose thread in her cash a box fros”

I grip the steering wheel, not sure of what to say Odette has always been jealous of the woman who came before her, and my father has always done his best to make sure she feels like his wife and not his wife’s replacement

“He knows better than to climb on ladders after what happened last week,” she says “I don’t understand why he’s being so reckless He says he just … blacked out … I was in the kitchen and I heard a loud crash I ran upstairs and found hi face down on the floor, disoriented just like the last time”

She shakes her head, twisting her wedding band before threading her fingers together

“He’s going to be fine” My knuckles fade to white against the steering wheel “He has to be”

He’s the backbone of this family

I can’t iine what my life would be like without him in it

18

Wyatt

Blaire doesn’t show on Thursday—not that I expected her to I finishchores and head to the house for a quick lunch The rumble of a car down our road steals my attention for a second, but it’s only the mail carrier

“So what happened with Blaire yesterday?” Mama asks once I’m inside

“Nothing at all” I opt not to explain that Blaire asked to see the line shack and as soon as I told her it wasn’t a good idea, she went off on me and left It was for the best anyway We couldn’t keep doing this It’s too risky for her to coht on yet, he will soon

“Mlasses of iced tea Taking a seat, she rests her elbows on the table and looks ”

“All right”

“You told ,” she says “But Blaire told me you just … wrote her off” Mama flicks her wrist “Care to tell me what really happened?”

I grab a sandwich from the platter before me “No”

She huffs “You lied to me You kno I feel about liars”