“For how long?”
“Claire—”
“How long?”
“Since this afternoon.”
I slapped both hands against his chest.
“You brought my mother into this house and didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know she was your mother.”
“You knew enough!”
Ruth remained at the bottom of the staircase wearing one of my old cardigans.
Daniel looked toward her and lowered his voice.
“I met her three weeks ago.”
That stopped me.
“Three weeks?”
He nodded.
Daniel explained that he had recently started volunteering at a mobile outreach clinic instead of simply donating money to it.
One afternoon, he had driven several people from the bus station to the clinic.
Ruth had been among them.
While filling out intake paperwork, she had been unable to answer even the most basic questions.
Last name.
