“Tell me.”

“The reading glasses on his nightstand. And the photo on the bookshelf — the one of all three of us at his sixtieth.” She was quiet a moment, then asked one more thing.

“And can I come back sometimes? When I need to?”

“This will be your family’s house too,” I told her. “Whenever you want.” She cried a little then, and so did I, and neither of us hurried to end the call.

Chapter 10 — Becoming Ours

The paperwork was finalized on a Thursday in January. I signed the documents in Gerald’s office and drove straight to the gray colonial, and I sat in the driveway a while before I went in.