The afternoon had started out quiet. Too quiet. There was something about the silence of the house that always unsettled me, as if it mocked how much my life had changed. I was in the living room, trying to read one of the books Connor had left behind a few days ago, when I heard the abrupt sound of the front door opening.
“Eli!” Lena’s animated voice echoed through the house, her energy as unshakable as ever. She appeared in the living room with a smile so impossible to refuse that I didn’t even try, a jacket draped over one arm.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, though I already knew that with Lena, there was rarely a specific reason.
“I came to rescue you from this boring cave of yours,” she said, waving the jacket like it was a trophy. “Let’s go have lunch. There’s a new restauran
