SOPHIE HAD BEEN ACTING STRANGE ALL WEEK
She came downstairs wearing her cap and gown.
Something folded was tucked into her sleeve.
The moment she saw me notice it, she adjusted the fabric.
“You ready?”
“Almost.”
She smiled.
But it wasn’t her normal smile.
For the past week, she had barely eaten.
I had caught her whispering on the phone.
More than once, she looked at me as though she wanted to tell me something and couldn’t.
Then there was the attic.
The ladder had been down twice.
Boxes containing her mother’s old belongings had been moved.
And the Sunday before graduation, Sophie asked me a question that seemed to come from nowhere.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Did Grandma ever tell you she had another baby before you?”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
