It was dark when we got home. The light on the back of the house was on, illuminating the icy walk—I would need to salt everything before we went to bed—and the backyard up until the tree line.
I could hear the sound of someone’s dogs in the woods and even smell that unpleasant damp-fur aroma that told me one of them had ventured close to the house. We had leash laws, but out so far from the city, people rarely bothered with them.
Inside the house, the sound of the television in the parlor blared, which meant Jonathan was still up. Flora was content to watch the flickering screen with no sound at all when left to her own devices.
I stood outside the parlor door, Vic slipping past to press a kiss to his mother’s cheek.
“Want help upstairs, Mom?”
She reached out, grabbing his hand and s
