He sat with his wife’s photo, waiting for a son who had already boarded without him

question I’d spent years avoiding. I glanced out the balcony door toward the distant shimmer of the moonlit water.

— I think, — I said slowly, — I want to stop surviving and start choosing.

Lila studied me, then smiled.

— Choose well. Because Graham… he has no idea what’s coming.

As she left, I picked up my phone again. Another email had just arrived, continue reading …