Amala felt an inkling of relief. At least the conversation had been opened and they were in agreement about something. She forged ahead.

“I know the situation is complicated at best, and I don’t think either one of us has the strength or the desire to analyze and debate everything that’s happened and what we should do about it. But we have to at least start to talk about it. For now, I mostly need to admit to you . . . aloud . . . as difficult as it is to say . . . that I’ve been so angry with Kat.” Tears came with her confession, but she’d expected it, and he’d seen her cry nearly as much as her parents had—and they’d known her all of her life. “I’ve struggled to be able to admit to it . . . and could hardly believe it was true when Paulina first suggested that it was at the heart of the problem. How could I be angry with Kat? She never would have intentionally hurt anyone—especially those she loved most. But once I admitted to myself that I was angry, I began wishing that she might somehow be haunting me, that her spirit might be close enough to hear me say all the hateful, awful things I was thinking. Whether or not she heard me, I don’t know. But I said it all anyway. I told her that I loved her, and I understood, and I could forgive her. And I also told her that what she’d done to us was cruel and selfish.”

Amala heard her own tone of voice reflecting the anger she’d been feeling and she saw Henry squeeze his eyes shut. Could he not bear to hear what she was saying? Or was she expressing his own difficult feelings? She wanted to ask but needed to finish what she’d begun.

“I told her it was all fine and well to leave this world without any secrets, but to expect that her husband and her sister might just be able to somehow magically leap past all that had happened—and all we had struggled to come to terms with—in order to honor some whimsical idea she had of a happily ever after coming out of all this . . .” She paused to breathe. “Well, I told her it was unconscionable, and it wasn’t fair, and she had no idea what she’d left us to deal with. While she’s in some peaceful, heavenly realm, we’re here in this wretched world trying to make sense of things that don’t make sense and solve problems we’re not capable of solving.”

Henry kept his eyes closed and hung his head. Amala could only keep talking, although she managed to sound a little calmer now that she’d gotten past the worst of it.