And they had forgotten the single most important thing about an absent daughter, which is that she is only absent until she comes home.

And now I was standing in the living room, and I was not asking a question.

I was telling them who I was.

Chapter 8 — Out of Context

Julian recovered first, the way men like him always do, sliding a smooth apologetic laugh into the silence and tightening the belt of his robe.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay.

I think you’re taking that a little out of context.”