“I see,” she says. She lets the elastic drop on the table. “You know, for someone who’s so devoted to family, you seem awfully willing to let your own fall apart.”

Shawn feels his anger return, bubbling up like acid in his throat. “Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t we all just live our lives together?”

“Because we can’t, Shawn. We’ve tried, and it isn’t working.”

“I actually thought it was working pretty well. Up until now.” Shawn gets up from the table and slams his coffee mug into the sink. Then he picks up the carafe and dumps the rest of the coffee down the drain. “You know what it seems like to me? All this drama, the cutting, this stupid ultimatum? You’re jealous. I’ve been busy focusing on the Parkers and you’re just trying to get attention.”

Katriina stares at him incredulously. “Do you think this all happened overnight?”

“It certainly seems that way.” He turns back to the sink and fills the carafe with water and dish soap and begins scrubbing violently.

“That’s because you haven’t been paying attention!”

“You haven’t let me!” He spins around to face her, the wet dishcloth in his hands. “You shut me out of everything, Katriina. How am I supposed to know what’s going on with you?”

“You didn’t want to know what was going on!” She breathes in and crosses the room to stand in front of him. Gently she takes the dishcloth from him and places it in the sink, then holds both his hands in hers. “You wanted everything to be just fine, Shawn. And so that’s what I gave you.”

It’s true, he realizes, with a sickening moment of clarity. He loves Katriina because she is strong, stable, reliable, a counterpoint to the Parkers. But no one can be like that all the time. He had asked her to do the impossible. He had taken her strength for granted.

“Katriina.” Something breaks inside of him, and he drops down to his knees, presses his head against her legs like a hysterical child. “Please.”

She puts her hand on his head, strokes his hair.

Then Shawn feels his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Katriina feels it, too. “Don’t answer,” she whispers. But he can’t help it.

“Hey, Nicki,” he says, peeling himself away from Katriina and standing up, turning his back to her so he doesn’t have to see the look on her face.

“We found Mom,” Nicki says. “She’s with London. In Duluth.”

Relief floods through his entire body. Kate, awake, alive, found. For a moment he forgets about everything else. “Thank god,” he says, sinking back against the kitchen table. “Did you talk to her?”

“No. We still need to track them down.” There is a pause. “I need you to come to Duluth with me,” she says.