The stately brick house was in the far corner of a quiet cul-de-sac, with a field at the back and other houses all around. I had to park on the street because three cars were already in the driveway—two of which I didn’t recognize. Plus, there was my dad’s van, an ugly white thing that he hadn’t touched in at least a year. I’d come to hate that van after ugly arguments and resentments that spilled over from the front seat displaced the happy memories of our one Disney road trip long ago.

My parents didn’t have typical husband-and-wife shouting matches. Even as a child I remember wishing for some of the honest anger I had heard in other families. Theirs was worse. My mom would use a cold, flat voice to deliver her punches. She hit hard, and she knew instinctively where to strike, how to make it hurt the most. I was a needy girl and wanted her anger and passion to reassure me that she cared. I think my dad wanted that, too, but she either couldn’t or wouldn’t give it. My dad and I both navigated her cold indifference the best we could.

Kael’s phone lit up in his hand. He glanced down and put it into his pocket. I felt important. Prideful as it was, I still felt it.

We were walking up the grass when someone I didn’t recognize came out of the house and walked toward the street. I saw Kael watch him until we were safely inside. It wasn’t anything obvious, a slight tilt of the head, an almost imperceptible scan of where this other guy was and what he was doing. It made me wonder what Kael had experienced, and what he might fear. I tried not to let it affect my mood, thinking about what he had seen in Afghanistan. I was sure that was the last thing he wanted to talk about at a party, the night before his birthday.

I led Kael into my dad’s house for the second time in a week. Brien had been there only a total of maybe three times during our entire four months of dating. He liked my dad . . . well, he liked trying to impress him while staring at Estelle’s boobs. She was new back then, her boobs, too.

Ugh Brien was the last person I should be thinking of. I looked at Kael to edge him back into my mind, but also to make sure he was still following me up the steps.