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“I love New York, don’t you?”He didn’t wait for her to answer.“I like the snow and that we have all the seasons.I’d never want to go to California; they have summer all year long.The only way I’d ever move away is if someday I had kids.Then, if my wife agreed, we might want to raise them in Connecticut or Massachusetts, but not Vermont or Maine, there’s not enough to do there.”

Carla listened to him go on about how he was raised in Mystic, a seaport town in Connecticut, and he loved movies, thin-crust pizza, and dogs.She enjoyed the fact that he talked so she didn’t have to carry the entire conversation, which she had to do with other boys.And when he asked her a bunch of questions, he seemed genuinely interested in her answers.

Carla thought he was charming and felt a warmth and comfort she’d never felt around any other boys.Besides, they had a lot in common, from their love of U2’s music to how many times they read ‘Cider House Rules.’

After that first day, Brian waited for Carla in front of the giant elm tree on the corner of her street to walk with her to school every morning.And he’d show up at her last class every afternoon and walk her home.They got to know each other in bits and pieces, and by the end of that first month, Carla thought she must be in love.She hadn’t fallen off her shoes, but her heart did a cartwheel whenever she knew she was about to see him.

When Brian invited her over to meet his parents, Carla felt it was a pivotal moment in their relationship.She put on her favorite slacks and shirt and ensured her nails were freshly manicured and her eyebrows perfectly shaped.When she drove to the address Brian gave her, he opened the door and, in a whisper, told her not to bring up that she didn’t go to church.Carla knew he was Lutheran, but he’d never made a big deal about it before.

Dinner was lovely, and Carla thought his parents liked her until they asked—

“What’s your last name?”his mother inquired.

“It’s Christian,” Carla said.Brian’s mom smiled warmly until Carla continued.“Which is ironic because I’m Jewish.”

“I see,” his mom said, raising an eyebrow at Brian’s father.Carla knew Brian wasn’t going to be happy with her, but she’d never been embarrassed about being Jewish before, and she wasn’t about to start.

The conversation became sporadic for the rest of the night.Carla tried to engage Brian’s parents, but they had no more questions for her.She wondered if that would be the end of her and Brian’s relationship, but Brian never said anything about the evening.

He was a year older than Carla, so when he graduated, he moved to the city for a job, but every weekend, he took the train to Brooklyn to spend time with her.A few days after Carla graduated, she and Brian went to city hall and got married.Carla wore a vintage dress she bought at a thrift shop and never felt more beautiful.

The ceremony consisted of her and Brian, the judge, and the judge’s secretary as their witness.Beverly had taken a job out of town and missed both Carla’s graduation and wedding.Mort had said he’d come to both but didn’t show up at either.Brian’s parents weren’t there.They refused to speak to him because he was marrying a Jewish girl.

CHAPTER 13

Morgan

Alittle over a week after Carla’s death, Morgan was the first of her sisters to arrive back at her mother’s house.She put Albert in the backyard, where a squirrel taunted him from a low branch of a Sequoia.Albert looked as if he contemplated chasing it but then found a spot in the sun and collapsed like a mom after shopping with her teenage daughter.

Morgan went back inside and released Brigitta from her carrier.The cat walked around smelling the legs of the dining room table, looking under the couch, and then jumping on top of the media console and prancing around as if she owned it.

Morgan was making a grocery list when a loud knock rattled the front door.Brigitta leaped to the ground and ran down the hall.Morgan jumped as if she’d been watching a movie where a slasher had just popped up on the screen.She tried to remind herself that it wouldn’t always be bad news when she heard someone knock.

She opened the door to find Charlie looking a little rattled.“Sorry, I forgot my key,” Charlie said, dragging her suitcase behind her.

It was a marvel how whenever the Weiss sisters went anywhere together; they’d always show up in the order of their birth.Abby would be the last one to arrive, no matter where or when they were meeting.Once, Morgan and Charlie visited Abby for the weekend, and Abby got home twenty minutes after the babysitter had let them in.

Charlie pulled her arms out of the straps of her backpack and let it fall onto the couch.She pulled out a piece of paper.

“What’s that?”Morgan asked.

“A list.I’ve been writing notes about where we should begin our search in the house.”

“Abby isn’t here yet,” Morgan said, scanning the paper over Charlie’s shoulder.

“If we wait for her, we won’t start until her kids are old enough to help us,” Charlie cracked.

Morgan took Charlie’s list out of her hands and dropped it purposely on top of Charlie’s backpack.Morgan stuck her hand in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

“This is my list,” Morgan said, handing it to Charlie.“That’s where we’ll start.”

“Why should you get to decide what we do?”Charlie asked.

“Because it was my idea to do all this…and I’m the oldest.”

“You’re barely a year and a half older than me and way more screwed up.”

“Just because you hide it better doesn’t mean you’re less screwed up,” Morgan said.