Here is what I understood only later, in pieces, some of it from Hattie and some of it from the court filings that came after.

While I packed, Odette moved in.

Not officially.

Officially she was just a devoted friend of the family, a young mother fallen on hard times, taken in by Rosalind Prewitt’s famous generosity.

But she settled into that big house the way water settles into a low place — completely, and as if it had always been meant to be there.

She cooked Rosalind’s favorite meals.

She sorted Rosalind’s medications into the little daily boxes and sat with her while she took them.