VIVIENNE
“Read it from the beginning.”
She said it before Sera had fully settled into the chair across from her. James was beside Vivienne with his hands flat on the table and the particular stillness of someone who had spent the morning preparing himself for something he could not fully prepare for because he did not know the shape of it yet.
Dr. Cole’s conference room was the right choice. Sera had suggested it and Vivienne had agreed without needing to think about it. Not Vivienne’s kitchen where they had read their father’s letters. Not the house on Calloway Street which was Sera’s. This room was neutral. Professional. It had held difficult things before and knew how to contain them without making them smaller.
Elliot sat beside Sera. He had the particular quality he carried when h
