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Siena nodded happily.

“Moon came to see me.”

“That’s nice. Now let’s go and loudly wake up your father.”

As Katie showered, she did her best not to resent Sam too much. Because as far as he knew, everything was fine. Katie had given him a radically truncated version of events when she returned last night. So he knew it was something to do with her brother—that Chris had come back and disappeared again—but nothing more than that. Nothing about the apartment or the car she’d seen. When it came to her brother, she and Sam maintained a policy of don’t ask, don’t tell. Even so, she had sensed his disapproval and had tried not to let it rankle. Sam cared about her, and so he worried.

It would have bothered her more if he didn’t.

She turned off the shower.

Then she got dressed and headed downstairs. Sam was in the front room, fully engaged now in getting Siena ready for the day at day care. In the kitchen, Katie found a cup of coffee ready on the side, and two slices of bread waiting in the toaster. Sam came to the kitchen while she was buttering the toast.

“Thanks for this,” she said.

“No worries. I like to be of some use.” He leaned against the counter. “You okay this morning?”

She put down the knife and licked her finger. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Ah, you know. We didn’t talk much last night. Or maybe I just didn’t ask.”

I wouldn’t have expected you to, she thought. Despite everything, that made her feel sad. Don’t ask, don’t tell was fine, as far as it went, but right then it would have been good to be able to unload a little of what she was feeling.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Why do you think Chris came back?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it really was just because he wanted to see Mom. But God knows what’s happened to him now.”

Sam hesitated.

“Are you going to try to find him?”

“No. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“You’d find a way,” Sam said. “I know you. You’re very clever.”

“That’s why you love me, right?”

“No. It’s just one of the reasons.”

Katie smiled at him. “You don’t need to worry,” she said.

He leaned away from the counter and rubbed her upper arm.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt,” he said. “That’s all.”

She felt a twist of pain at that. It had been upsetting when her mother told her Chris hadn’t wanted to see her. It broke her heart to think their relationship had deteriorated so badly that he might not know she loved him and wanted him to be safe, and that she always would.

I just don’t want you getting hurt.

Too late.

But then she heard Siena laughing in the front room, and she put her hand over her husband’s, pressing his palm against her arm. The warmth of it was reassuring.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t.”

The Tadpoles day care was based in a side room of the local community center. When Katie parked and took Siena inside, she was greeted by the usualchaotic scene. The children were running amok, and the air was filled with noise and the mingled smells of toast and juice and floor polish. There was an impression of barely controlled carnage about the place, but Siena herself seemed entirely unconcerned. She toddled off without a backward glance, the Snail flag draped over her tiny shoulders like a cape, and then planted herself down on the worn carpet and began talking at another child.