n Good

d out of my life, I sent

ex. I' ll be there ton

essage I would ever send her. I

Goodbye, Emerson. I wish you a

panic, a primal fear I hadn' t felt in years. I tried to call her. The line we

y ribs like a trapped bird. She w

ting whine beside me. "The officiant is waiti

e one I had given to April. The one Chloe had pried from her ha

om her hand and threw it to the ground. It clattere

rled, pushing past her, past m

er shrieked. "Think of the m

as April' s empty eyes and

r. Goodman, but your mother has given explici

muscles bunched, my senses sharpened, a low growl rumbling in my chest. The guards, huma

ced, flashing back to another night, seven years ago, when I had run just lik

rms. I remembered her warmth as she huddled against me by the fir

e you, Emerson,"

let my mother and Chloe humiliate her. But she wouldn' t leave

day or two, then I' d go to her, shower her with apologies an

ghts of our small house appeared through the trees, a welco

t it made my knees weak. She wa

k of stern disappointment. I would be firm this time. She couldn' t jus

the scolding words already on my lips. I expected

sofa, watching my television, a little gi

d. "Can I help you?" the

s. "Where is she?" I demanded, my voice a raw, d

don' t know any April," he stammered. "We just moved in today. The landlord said the previo

space where my heart used to be. My April.

I crashed to my knees on the cold, u

e. She was

-