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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I stared at the glowing name on my phone.<\/p>\n
Serena Vance.<\/p>\n
My older sister almost never called before noon. Serena treated mornings like some kind of personal attack, so seeing her name on my screen while the sky outside was still dark gray made my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
I assumed there had been an emergency.<\/p>\n
I had no idea she was about to invent one.<\/p>\n
Dad reached across the table, stole another strip of bacon, folded it neatly in half, and dipped one corner into the runny yolk on his plate.<\/p>\n
His silver hair was still damp from the shower.<\/p>\n
He looked completely alive.<\/p>\n
Annoyingly alive, considering that bacon had been mine.<\/p>\n
Then he noticed my expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
I raised one finger.<\/p>\n
\u201cSerena?\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n
For two long seconds, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
I could hear the low hum of a car engine through the phone and the rhythmic clicking of a turn signal.<\/p>\n
Click.<\/p>\n
Click.<\/p>\n
Click.<\/p>\n
Then Serena spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cClara, Dad died last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand froze around my coffee mug.<\/p>\n
Behind me, the coffeemaker released a final hiss of steam.<\/p>\n
Dad stopped chewing.<\/p>\n
Slowly, I turned my head toward him.<\/p>\n
He stared back at me with his eyebrows raised.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
Then at the phone.<\/p>\n
Then back at him again.<\/p>\n
If the situation hadn\u2019t been so disturbing, I might have laughed.<\/p>\n
Dad certainly looked surprised, but he didn\u2019t look frightened.<\/p>\n
After everything that had happened during the previous forty-eight hours, surprise was about the only emotion either of us had left.<\/p>\n
Without saying anything, I pressed the speaker button and placed my phone beside the sugar bowl.<\/p>\n
Dad leaned slightly forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometime during the night,\u201d Serena replied. \u201cSamuel found him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s expression changed immediately.<\/p>\n
Samuel Mercer had been his closest friend for more than forty years.<\/p>\n
The two of them had gone fishing together, attended football games together, and helped each other through marriages, illnesses, and more bad decisions than either of them cared to admit.<\/p>\n
More importantly, Samuel had owned the town\u2019s funeral home before retiring.<\/p>\n
That detail made Serena\u2019s story sound disturbingly believable.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
I kept my voice steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Serena sighed.<\/p>\n
Not cried.<\/p>\n
Not sniffled.<\/p>\n
Not even paused.<\/p>\n
She sighed as though I had asked her something inconvenient while she was trying to get to an appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it matter?\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the table, Dad slowly lowered his fork.<\/p>\n
His eyes hardened.<\/p>\n
I knew that look.<\/p>\n
Serena apparently didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
She kept talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian and I are handling everything. There\u2019s really no reason for you to come to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad glanced at me.<\/p>\n
Serena continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe locks are being changed this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a brief silence.<\/p>\n
Then I heard laughter in the background.<\/p>\n
Julian.<\/p>\n
My brother-in-law had one of those loud, breathy laughs that always sounded as if he\u2019d just tricked someone and couldn\u2019t believe he\u2019d gotten away with it.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I folded my arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are the locks being changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another sigh.<\/p>\n
Serena sounded almost bored now.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Julian and I found Dad\u2019s papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stopped moving completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left the house to us,\u201d Serena continued. \u201cThe truck too. The accounts. Everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n