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“We still have a father out there,” Charlie said.

“We should call him again,” Abby said.

“The realtor is coming by with a photographer soon, so let’s call him after they leave,” Morgan said.

“I still have a few more things in my room to pack up,” Abby said.

“I’ll finish going through the books in Mom’s office,” Morgan said.

“I finished my room, so I’m going to nap.If I don’t get a few minutes of sleep, I’m going to kill myself,” Charlie said, then cringed.“Sorry, poor choice of words.”

Morgan and Abby chuckled and then their laughter got louder and slightly hysterical.Charlie joined in, and they laughed so hard that Abby fell off the bed.

CHAPTER 42

Abby

After the agent and the photographer had left, Abby surveyed the house trying to see it from a buyer’s perspective.There was nothing personal left.No family pictures on the mantel and none of the funny magnets on the refrigerator from the road trip they all took to Yosemite.Even the Hanukkah dish towel Carla kept out year-round because the girls had saved up to buy it for her was in a box in the garage.Their childhood had disappeared, and now the house seemed sterile and plain.Charlie came into the living room.

“It looks like no one has ever lived here,” Abby pouted.

“You get more money for a house that looks like Mr.Clean owned it,” Charlie said.“It will be perfect for some new family to start their own traditions in.”

“I’m going to miss all the holidays we celebrated here.”

“Me, too,”

Morgan came in from the garage.“I took the last box out.Hopefully, no one goes into the garage, or they’ll disappear amongst the boxes, and never be seen again.”

“Hey, Abby, why don’t you go out there?”Charlie said.

“You just ruined our special moment,” Abby said.

“It’s still a special moment.It’s just a special moment for me now,” Charlie said and Abby laughs.

“Hey, if you two are finished, we could call Brian now,” Morgan said.

The sisters sat side by side on the couch.Abby put her phone in the middle of the coffee table, dialed Brian’s number, and hit the speaker.

“Hi,” Brian said.“Can you give me a second?”

“If this is a bad time, we could call you back,” Charlie said.

“No,” he sounded panicked.They heard shuffling, and then his voice was back.“It’s fine; I’m here,” he said.“I’m so glad you called.”

“We have a few more things we wanted to ask you,” Abby said.

“Of course, but before you do, there’s something that has been weighing on me.”He paused for a moment, then continued.“Once I found your mother, I was desperate to meet my daughters.I shouldn’t have threatened her, but I never thought she’d do something so drastic,” he said, his voice breaking.“I’m so sorry.”

“None of this is your fault,” Morgan said.

“I still feel like I’m somehow responsible.I’m devastated that I made her think she had no choice.”

“You didn’tmakeour mother do anything.She had to have known we’d be devastated losing her, yet she still left us,” Charlie said pursing her lips together.

“We found her suicide note,” Morgan said.

“You did?”