“Hello?” My voice came out full of the static of sleep.

No one replied. “Hello?” I said again, my voice clearer now.

Someone on the other end was breathing.

“Carlow?” I said. I don’t know why, but I sensed it was him.

He mumbled something that sounded like “Lonnie?” but I wasn’t sure.

“No,” I said uncertainly.

Then there was the cold blare of the dial tone.

16

IT WAS HOT WHEN I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING—THE LIVING room sticky and humid. The weather had changed overnight and a streak of sunlight burned across my legs. I could hear William crying through the monitor. I sat up, and found Alex sitting too—shirtless, his skinny torso emerging from a pool of blankets. Our eyes met, but I didn’t say anything, just dashed upstairs to lift William from his crib. When I carried him down I found Alex was gone.

“So,” Lonnie said, cuddling William on the ground. I expected her to say something about Alex, but she didn’t seem to even register his disappearance. “There’s kind of something I forgot. Don’t be mad at me.”

Her mouth was in the middle of a sheepish smile-frown. “What is it?” I said.

“I’m supposed to do this reading. At the end of the week. Well, you’re supposed to.”

I glared at her. “What am I supposed to read?”

“I have a short story,” she said. “It’s not very long. I didn’t not tell you on purpose, I swear. I just forgot about it, but don’t worry, we can totally blow it off. I don’t care what any of these people think. We can just call Tibby and say you’re sick or something. It’s no big deal.”

Of course my first thought was to agree to never go back to that horrible A-frame, but then I realized this might be the only opportunity for me to access Lonnie’s writing. If I told her I’d do it she would just hand the story over.

I said, “I dunno, maybe I could do it,” thinking I could take it back later, just trying out her reaction.

“Really?” she said, squinting at me.

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe.”

She smiled then and awkwardly pressed William between us in a hug. Her hair still smelled like pond water—that muddy mineral scent.

“That’s going to get my dad off my back so much,” she said. “You have no idea how annoyed he’d be to hear I bailed.”

She still had her head on my shoulder. “You don’t have to do a good job or anything. I’m not looking to impress him. I just wasn’t looking forward to any angry emails.”

LONNIE’S STORY WAS ABOUT A WOMAN WHO MARRIED A MAN with a twin. She then gave birth to twin girls, making her the only singular member of the family.