“Wyatt?” she says, warm and immediate. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes,” I say quickly. “Nothing’s wrong. I just… hi, Mom.”
There’s a pause. A smile I can hear. “Hi, sweetheart.”
In the background, I hear the scrape of a chair and my father’s voice, muffled. “Is that Wyatt? Tell him dinner’s almost ready if he’s on the way to visit.”
“I’m on speaker,” Mom says. “You’re both on speaker.”
“Good,” Dad says. “Are you on the way?”
I close my eyes briefly, smiling to myself. “Hi, Dad. I’m not coming today, I’m afraid.”
“Son,” Dad says. “You eating enough?”
“I am,” I lie gently.
There’s a beat. My mother’s tone shifts. “Alright. What’s going on? I can tell there’s something going on…”
This is why they were good teachers. They hear the question behind the greeting.
“I’m looking into something,” I say. “Town history. From before I was… really aware of things.”
Dad hums thoughtfully. “That covers a lot of ground.”
“Do you remember Bonnie Kentwood?” I ask.
The silence that follows is immediate and absolute.
Mom exhales first. “Well,” she says. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”
Dad clears his throat. “We went to school with her.”
My grip tightens on the phone. “You did?”
“Yes,” Mom says. “She was a year behind me. Smart. Quiet. Artistic. Had this way of listening that made you feel like you were saying something important.”
That sounds familiar.
“What do you remember about what happened?” I ask.
Another pause. Longer this time.
“It was a mess,” Dad says finally. “People talked.”
“About what?”
“About everything,” Mom answers. “And nothing. The fire. The land. Her marriage. Her sister leaving town. Folks were restless back then. Fires always make people look for someone to blame.”
“Some people thought her husband was involved,” Dad adds. “Unfairly, if you ask me. He was a distant man, not a violent one.”
“That rumor never sat right,” Mom says. “But it spread anyway. He didn’t help himself by pulling away after.”
My stomach tightens. “Did anyone ever question the ruling? The accident?”
Mom hesitates. “Quietly.”
Dad exhales. “There were… other rumors.”
