Chloe pushed open the screen door and carried her tote bag down the steps past him without pausing.

Caleb came after her, his plastic lizard tub tucked under one arm.

“Bye, Grandma,” Caleb called back over his shoulder.

“Drive carefully on Shea Boulevard,” I called down to the driveway.

Daniel helped Caleb fasten his seatbelt, shut the back door, and went around to the driver’s seat without glancing back up at the porch.

The silver sedan backed down the gravel drive, turned onto Willow Creek Lane, and vanished behind the line of oleander bushes.

By seven thirty, the house had gone completely silent.