Chapter 71

“Go on up,” she tells me. “There’s a ton of stuff to go through, Michael. I can’t keep it all. Take what means the most to you, okay?”

I nod. Another pat on my arm, then she extracts her hand from beneath mine and heads for the kitchen. To calm my mom down, I hope. Turning to Dan, I suggest, “Let’s see if we can find a private room.”

We’re halfway up the stairs when the front door bangs open and my dad calls out, “Mike? Hold up.”

I stop and behind me, Dan stops too, his hands on my hips. Leaning on the banister, I look down into my dad’s upturned face, his cheeks windblown and red. “Yeah?”

He’s been drinking already, I can tell that from the way his gaze wavers, as if he’s trying to see something behind me and I’m in the way. “You ever change a lock?” he asks.

“A what?” I don’t know what he’s talking about.

With an impatient sigh, he says, “A lock. On a door. Ever change one?”