That was the truth at least. Connor still needed more time before he would bounce back completely, and there was no question of his going back to school until next semester. A home health care provider would start coming over sometime this week to help out around the house. Mom was already investigating home school programs, but I wasn’t sure how well that was going to work out with how demanding her job could be. They moved her halfway across the country for a reason—and that meant more work than before.

I was starting to think that if I got a job to help bring in some money maybe Mom might have less to worry about with everything else going on, that it wouldn’t matter so much if her paychecks were a little short because she left work early to come home every now and then. Thanks to the move, I wasn’t going to be taking Pratt’s graduation seminar class, part of which required students to build resumes and learn how to write cover letters, but I was thinking my guidance counselor Mrs. Stephens should probably be the first person to speak to about the whole process of finding a job.

Under normal circumstances I would never think of abandoning Mom at home while Connor needed the extra care, but with the home health care provider coming she would be getting a little reprieve. There was temporary relief on the horizon, and I hoped I could improve that with a little extra income.

GOOD, Beau signed with a nod. HAPPY.

SAME, I replied.

Nina chose to cut in at that moment, leaning toward us to say, “. . . everything okay?”

“Fine,” I said immediately, and Beau gave a nod of agreement.

I thought there might have been a suspicious gleam in Nina’s eyes, but she let it go with a shrug.

“So . . . was thinking,” she said, resting her chin in her hands. “. . . some homework . . . for finals?”

It was an automatic response to look at Beau when I did not understand what Nina was saying, and he already seemed prepared, signing, HOMEWORK AND STUDY FOR F-I-N-A-L-S.

I felt myself release a sigh. The last thing I wanted to do was study. I would rather set up camp at the mailbox in thirty-degree weather to wait for any news from Cartwright or spend as much time as I could keeping Connor company.

“Okay,” I said. “When and where?”

We decided to start the studying after school at a local coffee shop. It was called The Steaming Bean, and according to Nina, it was a popular place come finals time for high school and college students. On the way over, Nina wound up in the backseat of Beau’s car with a stack of books in her lap from his traveling library.