PART 1 — THE DOORWAY

The glass stopped rolling when Mark put his hand over Emily’s phone.

“Give it to me.”

Emily kept her fingers around it.

“Why?”

“Because I asked for it.”

I was standing at the sink with a dinner plate in my hand.

Linda was gathering forks from the table, and the television in the next room was low enough that I could hear the announcer without following the game.

Emily looked at me.

“Mom?”

Mark held out his hand again.

“Claire, tell her.”

I put the plate down beside the sink.

“Maybe she can finish whatever she was doing first.”

His hand stayed where it was.

Emily slipped the phone toward her pocket.

Mark reached for it.

The glass fell when Emily pulled back.

It struck the floor and broke into three large pieces and a scatter of smaller ones.