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Chapters (47)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraphs
  5. Prologue
  6. Part One
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. Part Two
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. Acknowledgments
  46. About the Author
  47. Newsletter Sign-up

Ann’s room was also neatly preserved. Poppy inspected her bookcase, which was lined with track medals and academic awards, along with framed photos of Noah as a baby. On the bulletin board, she saw a photograph of the two of them taken from behind. It was sunset at Mayo Beach, and they were squeezing each other. How Poppy had worshiped Ann! They must have been seven and eight, their legs still a little chubby, their hair more golden. Poppy sat on Ann’s bed for a little while and guiltily looked through the nightstand, remembering how, in high school, she’d sneak peeks into her sister’s diary to find out who she liked, and how surprised she’d been, once, to see an entry about Michael, how he was unlike other guys, and so cute!!! The diary was gone, but she discovered a folded-up drawing that lacerated her heart. It was a picture Noah must have drawn of Poppy when he was around six, when Poppy had visited home for Christmas. It was a trip she didn’t remember well, aside from feeling like Milwaukee was cold and boring. She’d taken everything for granted. Her mother must have spent hours preparing Poppy’s favorite dishes, and she’d blown off her father’s invitation to see a band at the Jazz Estate. She got high before her parents took the family to see the Milwaukee Ballet perform The Nutcracker and slept during the entire show. After only a few days she left, strung-out and in a huff because Ann had gotten on her case about being more responsible. Noah must have made the drawing the next day when he’d woken up to discover she was gone. He pictured Poppy standing on a surfboard, her face as big and round as the sun on the corner of the page. The Milwaukee house with the turret stood behind her. He’d written in painstakingly careful letters, some backward, “Ent Popee you fgrot to soy good bie from NOAH.”

She had forgotten. She’d been so thoughtless, leaving the way she had, at night, when Noah was sleeping, without ever taking his feelings into account. The worst part was that Ann had kept the drawing in the intimate space of the nightstand, so Poppy knew it had mattered to her.