The effects of my staying away from the house are immediately clear over dinner later that night.

Over a meal of lasagne and salad that Adela and I made, all my efforts to ground myself crumble under the pressure of my father’s pointed remarks about me failing to live up to the Boone reputation, and Connall making sly digs at my expense despite Mack’s repeated attempts to stop him.

Faith doesn’t look at me, and Tina doesn’t either. I get why Faith wants nothing to do with me, even if ...