Chloe chose to make a tree with many branches and different-colored leaves.

She drew me near the trunk and Camilla on a branch beside me.

She added Elena, Brooke, Paisley, Harper, and Ms.

Bennett.

Then she stared at the blank space where Gwen and Victor might have gone.

“Can I put people on the tree if I don’t want to see them?” she asked.

I said that family history and who felt safe today were sometimes different things.

“You can include someone because they’re related to you,” I explained, “or leave the tree unfinished while you’re deciding.