WINTER

“Shut up,” she rasped, her voice breaking between sobs before she threw her arms around me.

My mother’s embrace this time was the tightest I had ever felt. Her body trembled, muscles loosening as though the tension were finally giving way. And I didn’t need to see her face to know she was crying; I could feel it in the way her chest shuddered against mine. Guilt twisted deep in my stomach for causing her so much disappointment and for returning to her like this. ...