Marybeth
I couldn't stop thinking about the question. It followed me through breakfast. Through laundry. Through grocery shopping. Through every quiet moment when my mind had room to wander. Why doesn't Rowan live with us if he loves me?
Of all the questions Eli had asked over the years, that one lingered longest. Because it wasn't childish curiosity. It was observation. He had noticed things. The way Rowan looked at him. The way Rowan always seemed to appear when something went wrong.
The way other people spoke about him. The way I never seemed comfortable whenever his name came up. Children noticed more than adults liked to believe. Especially smart children. And Eli was far too smart.
I stood at the kitchen counter staring out the window while coffee cooled in my hands. The yard
