Caitlin told her what she’d found out, but left out for now that Grace had been up in Maine for close to a week without letting anyone know. She’d already told her mother earlier about Grace’s involvement with Bill Ackerson, a much older married man. Her mother’s response had been expected: “I blame your father.”

They talked some more, Caitlin ensuring her mother that she would find out when the body was going to be released—she’d forgotten to ask—and how to make arrangements to bring Grace back to Ann Arbor.

“I’ll call you later tonight, Mom, okay? I’m exhausted and going to try and get some sleep.”

“Okay. Don’t go out alone. I still wish Dan was up there with you.”

“I’ll be fine. Have Patrick call Dad.”

They said good-bye, then Caitlin lay back on the bed. The air-conditioning unit in the window kicked up a notch, and the sound jolted her. She sat up again. As she always did when she was overwhelmed, she made a quick mental list of what needed to be done and in what order. Find out when they would be done with Grace’s body. Arrange for the body to be transported to McLellan’s Funeral Home in Ann Arbor (she had their number on her phone). Call Maria at work and tell her she’d be away for at least a week. Fly back to Ann Arbor herself.

And once she was there, she could finally tell her mom that Dan and she were no longer together, hadn’t been for about three weeks. Her mom, who loved Dan and referred to him as her daughter’s “fiancé” even though he never was, was going to be crushed. Or maybe it wouldn’t bother her, because of what had happened with Grace. But she didn’t believe that. She knew how her mom’s mind worked, and it was a moment of tragedy, and that meant all hands on deck, and Dan’s not being around was going to be a problem. The other problem, of course, was going to be her father. He would have to go to the funeral, of course, and her mother would just have to ignore him. She just hoped that her father would be decent enough to come to the funeral alone, and not bring his new wife and her three children.