One last grief.

I hesitated in the funeral home parking lot, not sure I could keep moving after all. Mom's hand took mine, squeezed gently and I squeezed back. She'd come, no questions asked, just showing up that morning in the kitchen, and held me while I cried and fought to pull myself together.

I hadn't seen Alison's ghost since the Dumont's attack and hoped her echo moved on. But for now, in the moment standing outside the place of the dead, I felt like the ...