I Left My House Empty Three Days Before Christmas

tucked one block back from the water, painted the sort of white that shows every grain of sand blown against it.

Not fancy.

Thank God.

The woman at the desk had a candy cane clipped to her name tag. “Pat.” She looked to be my age, maybe a year or two younger, and had the kind of face that suggested she’d heard every family story on earth and wasn’t shocked continue reading …