Isabella

A month later

Outside the windows, the Kansas City summer sun baked the ground, turning the green grass to brown. If I wasn’t planning a trip, I’d be outside in our pool or lying in a chair on the pool’s deck. Instead, here I was in my bedroom. “I can’t believe they’re making me do this,” I moaned as I filled my suitcase with whatever I thought I might need for a month’s stay in San Diego.

Noemi sat cross-legged on my bed beside the suitcase. ...