up one more step.
And then he shouted it. Loud. So loud a gull lifted off the dock.
“I saw the deed, Mom! In your front hall! It’s done!”
Every voice on the lawn went silent.
Twenty-nine people stood staring at us. Glasses of champagne frozen halfway to their mouths.
At the back, under the live oak, Miles closed his eyes.
I slowly set my coffee down on the little table beside the rocking chair.
Then I reached into my purse.
I took out the long cream-colored envelope with Law
