Chapter Fourteen
No such luck. I was all too awake and aware when my mother hurried down the pathway toward me about fifteen minutes later. I could only stand there and stare at her, whereupon she came to me and folded me into her arms. Up until then, I’d been calm and cold, my thoughts feeling somehow detached from my body, as if they were little birds fluttering high above my head, not touching me. But once I felt my mother holding me, I broke into noisy tears. She didn’t say anything, just continued to hug me, until I more or less got enough control of myself to respond with a nod when she asked if I was ready to go.
She made a quick detour inside, murmuring that she needed to give Kirsten the spare key to the cottage, then guided me down the path through the condo complex and into th
