“A sister who cares finds a way to take leave.

But you always loved the uniform more than this family.”

Bradley nodded slowly and wrote four words on his legal pad with his fountain pen.

“Pattern of emotional estrangement,” he muttered out loud.

“I phoned Ethan from the base every Sunday,” I said.

“A fifteen-minute phone call from six thousand miles off doesn’t bake a birthday cake, Madison,” Richard said, strolling into the dining room with his hands in his trouser pockets.

“It doesn’t pick a boy up from soccer practice when it’s raining.”