Come on, thought Alexa. She just wanted to make her video and get on with her day. “It was just an audiobook,” she said. Alexa had never listened to an audiobook in her life, nor did she plan to.

“Can I come in?”

“No.” Too sharp, but she couldn’t help it.

“Why not?”

“I’m doing something important. Where’s Mom?”

“I don’t know.” Morgan’s voice was plaintive. “She’s not home. She didn’t leave a note.”

“Text her.”

“I did. She didn’t answer yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine for a little while.” Alexa couldn’t help the note of exasperation that crept into her voice.

From outside the door came Morgan’s irritated little huff. “Why can’t you be nicer, Alexa? Like you used to be?”

Alexa winced. “I’m nice!” she told the door. “I’m nice all the time.”

“No you’re not. Not anymore.”

The truth was, Alexa hadn’t been all that nice to Morgan lately, really not since Peter died. Morgan’s grief had seemed so separate from her own—in many ways so much cleaner, so much more deserved and allowed, that Alexa felt herself bumping up against it again and again. Unable to help herself.

“I’ll be down in a few,” she added, more softly. Picturing Morgan’s sad little face, hearing her raspy, innocent voice, brought to the forefront an uncomfortable question.

Alexa’s biological father was “no longer in the picture”—a euphemism employed by Alexa’s mother and adopted by Alexa herself, even though she knew that the truth behind those words was darker and more ominous. A raging alcoholic. Incapable of or unwilling to seek rehabilitation. A danger to himself and others. No longer in the picture. Never to be in the picture again.

So Alexa couldn’t help but wonder. If Morgan’s essential goodness came half from Rebecca and half from Peter, where did that leave Alexa? Only half good. Half at the most.

“Give me ten minutes, okay?” She kept most of her videos to under four minutes, because she’d found that that was the sweet spot for holding people’s attention. She always sat in the same chair. She crossed her legs demurely at the ankle, and she aimed the camera so it focused mostly on her face.

“Welcome to Silk Stockings,” she said. “Today we’re going to learn about toxic assets: what they are, and what to do if you find yourself in possession of them.”