I studied her face under the fluorescent kitchen light.

There were fine lines around her eyes that hadn’t been there ten years earlier, but her mouth was set in the very same cold curve.

“She’s got a home,” I said.

“A home full of frayed shirts and hand-me-down boots,” Vanessa said.

“I’m staying in town for a few days.

I want to spend some time with her.”

Part of me wanted to open the back door and send her down the driveway to her rental car.

But then I pictured Lily holding that little velvet box, gazing wide-eyed at a woman she knew only from a faded photo on her dresser.