My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

“Dad, I can replace a hose.”

“I know.

But I have a reputation as an excellent hose consultant.”

On the first night, Lily and I ate pizza sitting on the living-room floor.

The kitchen table hadn’t arrived.

A storm rattled the windows, and for a moment thunder made my shoulders tighten.

Lily noticed.

“Big noise,” she said.