Chapter 24: The Lamp by the Door

Miles's POV

The porch light was on at the brick house when I came to collect Jamie on Friday.

The kitchen window behind it glowed yellow.

Leigh opened the door before I could knock.

She looked rested, and a little pink, and I looked at the doormat instead of her face.

"He's finishing his reading," she said.

"Come in out of the cold."

I stepped into the hall.

Ellis stood at the far end of it, drying his hands on a towel.

We nodded at each other.

"Miles," he said.

"Ellis."

That was all, and it was enough.

Leigh took her time with Jamie's backpack, zipping every pocket.

"I read Kendra's letter again," she said, without looking up.

"I asked him about it."

"He says he knew from the first week that she'd seen us. He didn't tell me because I'd have made him leave sooner."

"He wanted her to be the one who left."

"Did that settle it?" I asked.

"It settled it," Leigh said.

"He's a man who waits for other people to do the right thing, and then he does it anyway when they don't."

"That's a better fault than most," I said.

She looked at me then, for a second, and the corner of her mouth moved.

It was not a smile, but it was the closest thing to one she had given me in a year.

Jamie came down the stairs two at a time with his shoes untied.

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