The House After the Fire
“Yes.”
“And she couldn’t come?”
Sophie hesitated. “She wouldn’t.”
That answer carried more history than I knew how to enter, so I let it rest. She was tired, her eyelids kept lowering. “You should sleep,” I said. “You take the bed.
I’ll take the couch. I can leave once Lena calls back.”
“No.” Her voice sharpened, then softened. “Please stay. I don’t want to explain tonight to anyone else.”