awful afterward.”
I stared at her.
“Chloe, I just buried my husband.”
She sighed as if my grief were delaying her vacation.
“Oh, Mrs. Theresa, everyone has problems.”
Austin showed no embarrassment.
He didn’t defend me.
He simply shrugged.
“Besides, that’s why you’re here, Mom. You’ll get bored all by yourself.”
The birds continued screaming.
Beside Ernest’s photograph, the candle flame flickered.
For once, anger didn’t rise inside me.
Instead, I became completely calm.
I studied the cages.
Then my son.
And smiled.
“Of course, sweetie. Leave them with me.”
