“It did.”

“I think she left instructions for the rest of us too.”

There was a pause, and then we both laughed because it sounded so exactly like Chloe.

PART 18

The winter party at the Lantern House went ahead beneath paper stars made by children from donated magazines.

Nobody called it a memorial.

That was a decision made by the families, and I was glad of it.

There were soup pots, a table where people could decorate cookies, and a shelf full of mittens sorted by size.