I Left My House Empty Three Days Before Christmas

of bleach and somebody else’s perfume. “Gary, your sister said, out loud, that if I didn’t know ahead of time I wouldn’t be able to say no.”

He muttered something that sounded like “damn.”

“Exactly.”

He rubbed his mouth. I could hear it through the phone, that dry rasp. Same habit his father had. “They’re at Diane’s now. The kids are nuts. Scott’s saying continue reading …