They passed a thin woods, a hunting shack, an orchard. The yellow foliage held a dull shine in the October haze. The orchard gave way to a plowed field, then a farmhouse with a long porch, then a barn, big enough to house the house. Up ahead was a stop sign. On either side of the road stretched fields of cabbage. Inside Sam’s truck stretched silence.

She should have said yes to music. This silence was like another presence in the truck, a goading one that pointed out Maggie’s discomfort.

What the hell was she thinking? First it was Kesley with its Tree Hollow Books and that prying clerk, and now there was this, a drive to Allenport to help Sam pack up his apartment. Maggie was supposed to stay at the aunt’s—the end of the earth, hidden, not interesting to outsiders, a nowhere place for someone with no plans for an impossible future.

She’d mapped a tiny world for herself, but between Kesley and Allenport and the email from Jane (dragging Maggie’s mind back to Carlton, to pain and fear, and burdening her with an unbearable sense of responsibility), her new world was expanding to include the foreign and the old, losing its manageable perimeters, growing unwieldy, dangerous …

She scowled at the field they were passing and, to drown her thoughts, searched for something to say, finally coming up with, “Cabbage plants are cute.” Her face burned. Well, that was stupid.

Sam grunted a laugh. “Kate said the same thing last week.” He sighed. “Strange to think we won’t be going this way anymore.” He sped through an intersection and cleared his throat. “Tons of cabbage grown in these parts. The fields will stink to high heaven after harvest.”

“Yeah.” Rotting cabbage reeked. Maggie knew that from the farms around Carlton.

They continued for some minutes without talking, but when he turned onto Ridge Road, he said, “Almost there.” And then abruptly: “Thanks for offering to help. It shouldn’t be that bad. We don’t have a lot.”

“Sure.” Helping him clear out his apartment beat the alternative—watching Kate.

According to Wren, Sam’s landlord had called him first thing that morning, complaining about the “characters hanging around the place” and how Sam was late on the rent again. In short, he wanted Sam out, preferably immediately.

This wouldn’t leave Sam homeless. Twice, just in Maggie’s hearing, Thomas had brought up Sam and Kate’s moving in with him. Wren told Maggie that Thomas had even offered to lend a hand with the move. But the local elementary was holding an in-service Friday, which meant the kids were off, and since the aunt had to work in Buffalo for the day, there was no one to watch Kate.