Chapter 54
Allison
I drive home. I’m buzzing too hard to stay at the office, and I can read transcripts at home just as easily.
I was harsher on Finley than I’d intended, but surely his instinct for self-preservation trumps all else. And he’s been on his own now for a couple weeks; he’s starting to understand that life will be a lot more comfortable with a guaranteed stream of income from me for the rest of his days.
A bit before seven, I pull out some salad and a piece of cold chicken. My phone buzzes. The caller ID prompts an audible reaction from me. Grayson. Oh, God, Grayson.
I’d hoped he would come home for spring break so Finley and I could have broken the news to him. God am I glad now that he stayed with his college friends on the East Coast.
Do I answer? Will he be able to hear it in my voice?
“Hi, honey!” I sing into the phone.
I hear no words at first, only panicked sobbing. A chill runs through me.
“Grayson, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“He…” His voice thin and high and hollow. “He’s…he’s dead, Mom,” he says. “Dad’s dead.”