“I get to see him Tuesday,” she said as they passed houses that were growing bigger and fancier as they got away from Rose Street. “But I’m going to France. He’s not coming here.”

“You’re leaving?” It surprised him how much that bothered him.

“Just to be on the safe side,” she said. “In case my name shows up in the news.”

“How long you gonna be gone?” he asked.

“As long as I have to be. A couple weeks. A month or two. If the shit hits the fan, I’ll see you in a few years.”

He couldn’t blame her for being worried. The story had already gone national—CNN, Fox News, New York Times. He’d had to turn off his phone Friday because of all the calls coming in from the media. In the next few weeks, things were only going to get hotter as more victims came forward, more names were named. Probably a good thing for Nora to get out of Dodge.

“You might miss the baby coming.”

“I hope I’ll be back in time. If not, Juliette says she understands.”

“All right, you can go, but you gotta at least come back for the wedding.”

“Your wedding? I’m invited?”

“Yeah, you’re invited.”

“That’s very sweet, Cy,” she said, “but you don’t really want a dominatrix in a leather catsuit at your very Catholic wedding, do you?”

“Can you do the electric slide?”

“Is that a kink thing?”

“Nora.”

“I went to high school in the ’90s. Of course I can do the electric slide.”

She smiled again. This time the smile stuck around a little longer.

“Almost there,” Cyrus said. “Come on.” He tugged her arm and pulled her past a white SUV blocking their view. And there it was.

“Oh my God,” Nora said, eyes wide, mouth open.

Before them stood a tree, a great gorgeous monster of a tree with a million branches and a billion leaves.

“I give you the Tree of Life.”

“It’s so beautiful.” She wandered around the tree, staring up at it. Cyrus had done the same the first time he saw it as a kid. “I had no idea this was here.”

Cyrus and Paulina had taken their engagement photos here. It was a massive ancient live oak tree with low branches made for climbing. Follow Annunciation Street to the very end and BAM, a little bit of Eden right before your eyes.

“This tree is amazing,” she said.

“It gets better. Ready to climb?”

“What? Climb the tree? I’m wearing a skirt.”

“It’s a long skirt. Trust me, you want to climb this tree.”

“Fine. Fine. Let’s do this.”

The branches of the tree were thick and low to the ground, easy for climbing. Nora clambered up first and Cyrus followed. It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy. About fifteen feet up, he stopped and pointed.

“Oh my God!” Nora burst into startled laughter.

“That’s the zoo,” he said. “Wave at the giraffes.”

Nora waved at the two giraffes hanging out in their pen at the zoo next door. Cyrus waved, too.