“I was just telling Katie about her parents’ connection,” Alice said, turning her attention to her youngest daughter. “What are you doing here?”

“Julian is taking me away for the weekend. I came by to drop off the dogs.”

“Julian?” Alice shook her head. “I told you last week after I looked at your chart not to make rash decisions. You’re in a period of impulsiveness, and you may regret—”

“Hello,” Julian said as he stepped into the room, his gaze shifting between Alice and Katie.

“Oh, don’t ‘hello’ me,” Alice said, poking him in the chest. “You’re as bad as she is! The two of you never learn. You are not compatible! Now get out!”

“Mom! He’s my husband!”

“That was your choice, not mine! Out!” She pointed towards the front of the house.

“I started talking to a counselor,” Julian said. “I know I was wrong.”

“You’ve run out of chances with me! The last time was too much.”

Katie turned her back on them, only half listening as the argument raged on. She hated being around Julian. He was a first-class asshole, and he looked like a weasel with stringy brown hair, a thin face and close-set eyes. Last time he came to their house, he called Shiloh a bitch in front of everyone, and her father banned him from coming over again. They were supposed to be getting a divorce, but she wasn’t surprised that they were back together. Shiloh was always leaving Julian and then getting back with him.

Katie opened her backpack and began slipping some books inside.

“What are you doing? You can’t take those books home. They are for you to read here.”

Katie looked back over her shoulder at her grandmother, surprised to find Julian no longer in the room. “I won’t lose them.”

“Your parents won’t allow those books in their house. You know that. And after the tirade I received from your dad last week over the T-shirt I let you buy, I don’t think we should push our luck.” She held out her hand. “Come on.”

Katie pulled the two astrology books from her pack and handed them to her grandmother.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah,” Katie said, closing the bag before her grandma could see the book of spells.

Lina normally avoided the street where she grew up, but she was already late, so she took the most direct route to Alice’s, and when her childhood home came into view, she tried not to look. But her eyes were drawn to the brick colonial, and a flood of anxiety gripped her chest. She should have taken the long way.

A few turns later she was at the house Alice had bought two weeks prior to Lina’s seventeenth birthday. At the time, Alice said she chose the closing date as a birthday present for Lina so she could be home for her birthday, but Lina never moved into the house, never made it her home, instead choosing to remain with Phil and his family.