PART 3 I stepped aside. “Of course. It’s cold out there.” Carter walked in first. Yvette followed, brushing past me without saying thank you. I closed the door and led them into the living room. My late husband, Arthur, had built the bookshelves along the far wall himself. His favorite novels still occupied the bottom…

PART 3 Patricia’s expression changed first. “Emily, stop!” she hissed. “You have no idea what you’re saying!” I kept talking. I gave the dispatcher our address. I described the slap, the fall, and what Patricia had said afterward. I told her that my husband and mother-in-law had arrived at the hospital and that Patricia was…

PART 3 My mother closed her eyes. My father didn’t respond immediately. He simply stared at the papers as if the numbers might rearrange themselves into something that made sense. Ranata shifted in her chair. “Fay, this isn’t the time to make everything about you.” I turned toward her. “I’m not making anything about me.…

PART 3 I stepped aside. “Of course. It’s cold out there.” Carter walked in first. Yvette followed, brushing past me without saying thank you. I closed the door and led them into the living room. My late husband, Arthur, had built the bookshelves along the far wall himself. His favorite novels still occupied the bottom…

PART 3 Patricia’s expression changed first. “Emily, stop!” she hissed. “You have no idea what you’re saying!” I kept talking. I gave the dispatcher our address. I described the slap, the fall, and what Patricia had said afterward. I told her that my husband and mother-in-law had arrived at the hospital and that Patricia was…

PART 3 My mother closed her eyes. My father didn’t respond immediately. He simply stared at the papers as if the numbers might rearrange themselves into something that made sense. Ranata shifted in her chair. “Fay, this isn’t the time to make everything about you.” I turned toward her. “I’m not making anything about me.…