My Husband Woke Me at 4:40 A.M. to Serve His Mother. Three Days After I Left, the Police Called About My House.

“So should I have,” I answered.

“We all should have.”

PART 13

Patricia arrived the next afternoon with a compact cedar chest balanced carefully between her hands.

She wore plain brown trousers and a blue cardigan.

Her expression tightened with concern when she noticed the fading marks around my wrist, but she did not stare or ask me to account for them.

I appreciated that.

She placed the chest on the table, then stepped away from it.