chapter
TWENTY-SEVEN
Three days passed.
They were a complete blur as if they flew by at warp speed, and yet each hour, minute and second ticked along too slowly for me to handle. Time was so messed up.
I was messed up.
It was hot, dry, and sunny when we buried Mom. Amazingly, all five of her children made it to the service. I don’t know how Alice found them, but they filed into the cemetery just in time for the final farewell to begin. I glanced at them but said nothing. I wanted to be mad that they waited too late to show, except I couldn’t summon the emotion.
I was numb.
Mom was gone. My purpose these last six months was done.
What the hell was I supposed to do now?
I’d worked so hard to save her, to make her life better. I was a complete failure.
Jesus, I was going to miss her.
How could my mother be gone? Forever?
After the ceremony, Alice invited the other four to my place. “We need to go through Mom’s things and get all her affairs i
