“It’s going to be fine, honey. Mrs. Collins will watch her during the day.” Their neighbor had been a godsend. “And I’ll quit my job at the library and take care of her the rest of the day.”

“But you and Seth are leaving for college in the fall!” Jenna’s eyes were wide with panic. “How am I going to manage all by myself?”

“Don’t worry about that. I can go to school here.” The thought of that acceptance letter made her stomach twist. “I didn’t really want to leave Mama anyway, and now I have double reason to stay. You and Seth—your lives will go on as they always have, I promise.”

“Oh, Sophie.” Jenna’s eyes locked on hers. “You’d do that for us?”

She put her arm around Jenna. “Of course I would. You’re my baby sister. But we have to be strong for Mama right now. This is hard enough on her without having to bear our sadness too. She must feel so betrayed.”

“I’ll be strong for her.” Jenna dabbed at her tears. “Do you think Daddy might come back? Maybe he was overwhelmed by her prognosis.”

Sophie wished that were true. But as good a provider as their dad had always been, he was also selfish. In retrospect, she could see the red flags. The way he’d progressively left her mother’s care to others. How distant he’d become with them. The only time he stayed with their mom was on Sunday mornings, and Sophie suspected that was more about skipping church than it was about caring for his wife.

“He’s not going far—he’ll be just across town, and I’m sure he’ll want us to visit.” Although Sophie didn’t even want to see his face at this point.

She gave Jenna one last hug. “I’m going to check on Mama, then Aiden’s coming over. We’ll be out on the porch talking. Are you going to be okay?”

Jenna dried her tears with her sleeves, sniffling. “I think I’ll work on my history paper. It’ll give me something else to focus on. Have you heard from Seth?”

“No, but I’ll try him again.” Sophie tapped out a text asking if he was okay. He sent one back immediately.

I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m at Spencer’s house.

She showed the text to Jenna. “See, he’s fine. He’ll talk things out with Spencer.”

Jenna returned to her room, and Sophie checked the mirror before heading to the living room. Her mother lay on the sofa, curled on her side. She looked so peaceful in sleep, but she had puffy bags under her eyes from crying.