Derek threw up his hands.
“Oh, come on. We didn’t take anything she couldn’t replace.”
Linda turned on him.
I stepped closer to the storm door.
“Where’s the television?”
He said nothing.
“Where, Derek?”
“At a friend’s.”
“Which friend?”
“Mom, stop.”
“And Lucy’s pumpkin? What did you do with it?”
I stepped closer to the storm door.
“And Lucy’s pumpkin? What did you do with it?”
Derek rolled his eyes.
“I threw it away.”
Linda stared at him.
“You threw away your daughter’s pumpkin?”
I thought about Lucy searching the porch, still hoping somebody had simply moved it.
“It was a pumpkin, Rachel. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
I thought about Lucy searching the porch, still hoping somebody had simply moved it.
Linda pressed a hand over her mouth.
For once, she didn’t defend him.
“I didn’t know about that,” she whispered.
“But you knew about the broken door,” I said. “And you helped carry our belongings out.”
