Alice watched her, frozen for a moment, and then her mother’s chest bucked, and she made a sound like a wet cough. Alice stepped backward, alarmed. Her mother was choking in front of her eyes, probably dying. Alice wondered if all she needed to do was step forward and turn her mother’s head to the side so that she’d be able to breathe again. But Alice just watched instead. She was revolted, not just by the vomit and her mother’s gargling, halted breaths, but disgusted by everything about her mother. She was so incapacitated that all she had to do was turn her head to live, and she couldn’t even do that. It was pathetic. Edith bucked again, but didn’t make the coughing wet sound.

Alice realized she’d been balanced on the pads of her feet, as though she was about to move forward. Instead, she settled slowly back onto her heels. She didn’t want to watch anymore, but she couldn’t take her eyes away. A strange relief spread over her; her mother was being ushered away from her and to a better place. Alice’s body lightened, and her scalp tingled. Her mother had stopped moving and Alice knew she was dead. Still, she watched some more, aware of the blood rushing through her body. She felt dizzy and her chest was cold. A thought went through her: I got my wish. And then another thought: There was nothing I could do.

Something caught at the corner of Alice’s eye and she turned toward the stairwell.

Jake was on the bottom step, his face half shadowed, watching what had just transpired.

Chapter 8

Now

Harry woke, groggy and disoriented, just past eleven, having stayed in his room for the entire evening, dozing on and off, and finally falling into a deep sleep filled with terrible dreams that, now he was awake, were just out of his mind’s reach. He was incredibly hungry for the first time since he’d heard about his father. There was a text on his phone from Kim that had been sent at four in the morning. WHY AREN’T YOU HERE? Five minutes later she’d sent him a photograph of Paul, and Paul’s current boyfriend, Rich, both asleep, fully dressed, on her bed. Then she sent a photo of herself, her lips puckered in a kiss, the makeup around her eyes smudged. He turned his phone off and got out of bed.

Downstairs had been thoroughly cleaned, with no sign left that there had been thirty people here the day before. There was a note from Alice on the island in the kitchen:

Harry,

I’m at Chrissie’s house this morning. Please CALL if you need anything.

Love, A