“No!” She pushed him away again. “I want to get out of here, now. I want to take our baby away from these woods and I don’t care about anything else. Her mother…her mother went insane, David. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?”

He nodded. “I understand. I felt the same way at first. Jessie, she…” He struggled for the right words. “The house seemed so perfect in every other way, and I thought about how stupid it would be to let something that happened months ago affect our decision, because we’re going to have to live out here somewhere, there aren’t exactly a ton of choices, and we’re going to have to deal with the isolation somehow. Or else we go back to New York and live on breadsticks. I don’t want that, and neither do you.”

This time when he touched her, her eyes had softened (though she looked like she could cry at any moment), and her body relaxed against him.

“When I saw the picture of that little girl…” She shuddered and closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest. “It could have been Jessica.”

He held her close and tried to calm her trembling body. What can I say? Let’s run from here and end up on welfare, begging for meals? Or stay with the job and ignore the problems it causes?

Then there was the phone call from Flint. He wasn’t quite sure how to bring that one up.

He kissed her forehead. “Look, I’ll do whatever you decide. If you want to look for another place, we will.”

“No. You’re right, I’m being irrational. We’ll make it work. Just don’t keep anything else from me again, okay?”

A noise at the doorway made them both turn. Jessie stood there rubbing her eyes, Johnny Bear clutched in one pudgy hand. “Daddy,” she said, “did you try to get into the shed?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you did because the snow’s all pushed away from the door.”

“I haven’t been out there.” He looked at Helen, who shook her head.

“Then he did it,” she said.

David felt a prickle of fear run along the base of his spine and tighten the flesh around his skull. He forced himself to relax, clenching and unclenching his fists. It took an incredible amount of will to keep from glancing out the kitchen window.

There’s nothing there. It’s Jessie’s psyche you should be worried about.

“How about if I go look around a little? If there’s anybody snooping, I’ll find him.”

“And call the police?” Jessie looked doubtful.

“And call the police.” David smiled and ruffled her hair. See, nothing to it. Now just go on out there and bring back a snooper. Don’t come back until you do.