I don’t think I could have.

Some things you cannot believe about a person until you’ve seen the proof with your own eyes.

“I’m coming over right now,” I told him.

“Don’t do anything.

Just stay with Keegan.

I’m on my way.”

Chapter 2 — The Empty House

At seven that morning I pulled up to Warren’s house with two coffees and a bag of pastries and absolutely no idea how you comfort a man who has just lost his wife.

I knocked.

No answer.

The front door was unlocked, so I stepped inside.

The television was murmuring in the living room.

And there, on the rug in his pajamas, sat Keegan, eating dry cereal straight out of a plastic bowl with his fingers.

“Uncle Wyatt,” he said, looking up at me with those big eyes.