Cady fished in her purse for her cell phone and dialed her parents’ number. Her mother picked up on the third ring, sounding breathless. “Mom, it’s me, Cady. I just wanted you to know I got here safely.”

“I knew you would. You’re a cautious driver. I was wondering if you would call.”

“I said I would, Mom. I got a dog before I left. He was a great car buddy on the trip. Mom, where are all the presents Lola gave me when I was a kid?”

Her mother’s voice turned chilly. “We gave some of them away to less fortunate children, and the rest were sold. They were decadent, not appropriate for a child like you.”

“Did you ask me if it was okay to do that?”

“No, I don’t believe I did. Is it important? Don’t tell me Lola wants them back.”

“No, Mom, she doesn’t want them back. I just wanted to know where they were. For some reason I thought you might have saved them. Did you save anything of mine?”

“No, not really. We moved so often, we had to travel light.”

“Aren’t you going to ask how Lola is? You said Dad was going to call her to tell her I was coming. He didn’t call, Mom. I felt like a fool barging in here. Couldn’t he have called her, Mom?”

Cady didn’t think her mother’s voice could get any colder, but it did. “Obviously Lola is well, or you would have said something straight off. I’m no hypocrite. I don’t like her, and she doesn’t like me. Your father said he was going to call. I want to say he did try and there was no answer. I can’t be sure, though. If he was having a bad day, he probably didn’t try a second time. I have a cake in the oven, Cady, and I hear your dad calling me, so I have to hang up now.”

Cady ignored her and kept talking. “How is Dad?”

“He’s the same. Parkinson’s disease doesn’t get better, only worse. He has good days and bad days. He prays a lot. For some reason God doesn’t seem to be responding to his prayers.”

“Maybe that’s because God knows he’s a sinner. He is, you know. Look at how he treats his own mother. Let’s not forget the way he treated me when I returned home after the accident. I wish you had left me with Lola.”

“That will be enough of that, young woman. I have to hang up now, Cady.”

Cady switched off the cell phone before she threw it at the bed. She slid off the chair and sat down next to Atlas. “They’re my parents, and I don’t even like them. I don’t think they like me either. You know what, Atlas, I don’t care. Someday I’m going to remember all about that time, and then I’ll have the answers to a lot of things. At least I hope I will. C’mon, let’s check out the grounds and see if there are any places where you can dig a hole.”