I have wondered since whether he understood what it meant, whether it landed anywhere in him, that his son’s happiest moment in months was the promise that his parents would no longer be in the same rooms.

I hope, for Toby’s sake, that it did.

But I stopped, that night, waiting to find out.

My son had already given me my answer, and I did not need Brandon’s.

Chapter 18 — Broad Daylight

Over the months that followed, Brandon changed his story more times than I could count.

He began with tearful apologies.

He moved on to accusing me of selfishly destroying the family.