Colleen turned to see her dad in his work clothes, a pair of worn shorts and a white T-shirt whose every stain seemed to tell a story: when he’d painted the work shed; when he’d hung the wallpaper in the hallway; when he’d laid the bricks of the front walkway. In his hand he held a knife. He bent and zipped it across the top of a box. “Let’s get you settled, my darling. Let’s not be dragging this out and making you miserable.”

Colleen glanced around the room. There was more here than would possibly fit in Dad’s small house. “Did you bring everything? I mean . . .”

“I had to.” Hallie’s voice was strong. “We can shove it in the storage shed or garage or whatever. I left him all the furniture for now, but I had to get what I could or Walter would have . . .” She glanced at her little girls, who had come to a standstill in the living room.

“Is Lulu in a box?” Sadie asked in a small voice.

“Yes, sweetie. The box is labeled. I’ll find her.”

“She can’t breathe in there. Get her out. Get her out right now.” Sadie’s voice rose higher and she began running from box to box, pulling at the tape, throwing aside her wand in an effort to save whoever or whatever Lulu was.

“It’s okay.” Hallie stood in front of Sadie and took her by the shoulders. “I put Lulu in a special box with oxygen. She’ll be fine and she’ll be waiting on your bed tonight.”

Sadie accepted this and ran off with her sister, having been granted permission to draw with sidewalk chalk on the driveway, as long as they stayed away from the river.

Gavin walked around the room ripping tape off each box, peeling back the flaps and then moving on to the next one.

Hallie motioned for Colleen to meet her on the screened porch. When the door was shut behind them, the afternoon heat pressing down hard, Hallie said, “I haven’t asked you. How were they at the movies yesterday?”

“Angels.”

Hallie smiled. “I don’t believe you, but I’m so damned tired I’ll just have to accept it.”

“No, really they were. They are truly adorable, and smart as little whips. I’m sorry . . . I’m sorry I missed so much of their lives.”

“Well, you’re here now.” Hallie touched her empty ring finger. “I stayed as long as I could, Lena. This lie—he told me you were wrong about seeing him with that woman—was the last lie I will live with. To stay would be to betray myself and my girls.”