He said he would hold me to it.

For weeks, the people around me had been protecting me from danger.

That afternoon, promising an old man a future ordinary Saturday felt like progress.

Back at the guesthouse, Valerie had arranged a row of framed photographs on the living-room shelf.

In one, she was missing her two front teeth.

In another, Elena stood behind a birthday cake wearing a ridiculous paper crown.

There was a picture of Connie in a bright orange jacket, glaring at a cactus she had accidentally backed into on a family camping trip.