Chapter 26: One Hour

Daphne had asked for one hour, and she had asked for it through Willa.

She had not asked Nolan. She had not asked their parents.

She had called Willa's phone at seven the night before, and her voice was very small.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm asking you to bring my daughter."

Now it was ten in the morning, and Willa stood on the step of the Corwin house with Birdie on her hip.

Nolan sat in his car at the curb with both hands on the wheel. He had said he would not come in.

"I'll be here," he had said. "If you want me, wave."

The door opened before she knocked.

Daphne wore a gray cardigan and no makeup. Her hair had been combed flat, and she had lost weight in a week.

She did not look at Willa.

She looked at the baby, and her whole face changed.

"Hello, my love," she said.

Birdie went still. She studied her mother for a long moment, and then she turned her face into Willa's collar.

Daphne's hands, half raised, came down to her sides.

"That's fair," she said.

"She's tired," said Willa. "She was up early."

"You don't have to be kind about it."

"I'm not being kind. I'm telling you why."

Daphne stepped back to let them in.

The hall smelled of floor polish and something on a stove. Every room Willa passed was neat and silent, with the curtains drawn back.

In the kitchen the table was set for two.

There was a pot of soup at the back of the range.

Willa looked at it, and then at her sister.

"No," she said.

"I didn't make it for you."

"Then who?"

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