CHAPTER 3Abby flung a leg over the arm of the chair she flopped into and stared across the living room. Mara took up her place on the couch and picked at her fingernails. After a few minutes of silence, Abby tapped her foot on the stone hearth of the fireplace.
Mara looked up, annoyed. “Do you have to keep doing that?”
Abby continued tapping.
“Abby, cut it out.”
“Only if you spill the beans. What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on. We’re waiting for Mom to finish dinner, and then we are going to eat.” Mara didn’t look up from her fingers.
“With your little brother.”
“Right.”
“A little brother you didn’t have the last time I looked.”
“Right.”
“Where’d he come from? Where did he grow up?”
“I’m not really clear on all the details myself. Maybe he grew up in Arkansas or someplace lik
