Chapter 20

An hour later, he’s back in the church parking lot, engine idling as Evie says her goodbyes. When she finally frees herself of her little friends and flounces over to his car, he climbs out to hold the back door open for her. “Have fun?” he asks.

“We learned a new song!” she cries. As he buckles her into her booster seat, she belts out the tune right into his ear.

This close, he can’t even make out the words. “That’s great, honey,” he says, hurrying to shut the door on her singing. He gets less than a minute’s reprieve, though, before he opens the driver’s side door and her voice rings out, louder than ever. It’s a tuneless melody; how she can remember the lyrics, he has no clue.