I felt like I was coming undone, unable to tell up from down. Whether Davis was actually here, he’d succeeded in that, at least.

There was a sudden knock at the door, and I jumped instinctually, every muscle in my body going taut as blood rushed to my head.

Maybe it’s Vera. God, let it be Vera. Please don’t let it be Davis. Please let me be wrong.

I switched the faucet off and ran to the bedroom, grabbing my dad’s hammer from the nightstand as the knock came again, more urgently this time.

I ran to the bedroom, pulled the drapes back, and peered through.

The relief was intense, my pulse instantly slowing, my body practically going limp.

I set the hammer down and opened the door. ‘Rachel?’ Her coat was a mossy green, and a multicolored tasseled pashmina snaked around her neck, dancing in the gusts of wind coming down from the meadow. In the misty, diffused light, her handful of gray hairs shimmered like fine silver. She held a clear vase full of yellow roses, tied with grosgrain ribbon and twine.

‘Sorry. I hate to just show up at your door like this, but Maggie told me about what happened to John, and –’ She paused, then lifted the vase like some sort of offering. ‘I brought flowers, but Vera’s not home, and Maggie isn’t, either, and I didn’t want to leave them on her porch. It’s supposed to rain, and then they’ll be ruined, and I don’t want to give her ruined flowers after, after …’ She pushed the vase toward me, as if she couldn’t bear to hold it anymore. She looked almost sick to her stomach.

As I took them from her, Dusty squeezed through my legs and pawed at Rachel’s ankles, eager to see her again. ‘Are you okay?’ I asked.

She held on to the doorjamb, steadying herself. ‘Yes,’ she said, but her voice cracked. ‘No. I don’t even know.’

I reached for her arm, and she grabbed on so tight; I couldn’t just leave her like this. ‘Come in,’ I said.

‘No, I shouldn’t. You’ve lost him, too. I shouldn’t even be here –’

‘Just come in,’ I said. ‘Sit down. Warm up.’

Reluctantly, she did, and, eager to relieve my own nerves, I made us both tea, using tea bags that had been left behind, that must have once been hers. Dusty curled into her lap as soon as she sat down, begging for pets.

I took a sip, but the tea was too hot, the tip of my tongue going numb.