By Saturday, there was nothing left inside Kate, so she gave him the official okay to hit the road.

“You sure you’ll be fine?” he said, adjusting the straps on the vinyl cap he’d had to buy and install on the roof of the car to carry all their stuff.

She reclined her seat as far as it would go, cradling her favorite pillow, which she’d named Mooshy when she was a little girl. Mooshy came everywhere with her. It was a soft, amorphous blob that had ceased being an actual pillow fifteen years earlier. Now it was just something comfortable for her to cradle.

“Trust me, the tank is empty. How long did you say the trip will be?”

He checked the GPS on his phone. “Ah, seven hours, give or take. I’m sure we’ll hit a traffic snarl around Boston that’ll make things interesting. Then there’s walking Buttons. And your bladder that’s about the size of a thimble.”

“Good, that’ll be a nice seven-hour nap.”

The car rocked when he got in and closed his door.

“I’m going to wake you from time to time to make sure you drink,” he said. “If you won’t eat, you at least have to rehydrate yourself.”

“I’m not thirsty.”

“Not a concern. Sometimes you have to do things just because. I bought a few of those little baby drinks that amp up your electrolytes. They’re in the cooler behind you.”

She smiled. “Aw, I really am your baby.”

Kate was tempted to crack one open now. Her heartbeat was ragged from time to time, making her dizzy. But at the moment, she just wanted to nod off.

“If putting it in a bottle helps, I’ll stop at the supermarket and pick one up,” he joked. However, she knew if she told him yes, she would drink a lot more if it was in a baby bottle, he’d run out and buy a gross of them.

“Drive on, my good man. We’re burning daylight.”

As he backed out of the driveway, she waved goodbye to their house, a house that doubled as a hospital and prison. She wouldn’t have gone so far as to say it felt haunted lately, but it no longer brought her the same comfort it had in the past.

Buttons in his crate in the backseat gave it a farewell bark.

They were off to their dream house for a wonderful summer. Kate tried not to fixate on how shitty she felt, hoping Maine would somehow infuse her with the health, both physical and mental, that had been slipping from her grasp like fine sand.

* * *