But I do not like the hole in her heart. She only has one, not three, like me. Tova’s heart. I will do everything I can to help her fill it.

dark brown freckles on the bridge of Avery’s nose.

and wake up to nothing but the water view in his windshield.

On the other side, a spot of sun glows on the water, squeezing through a crack in the clouds. Then, as if pulled by puppet strings, the crack opens, bathing Puget Sound in clear light.

sometimes she still feels as if she’s a mistaken jigsaw piece who found her way into the wrong puzzle.

Now, Tova comes here to be alone with her thoughts, when she needs a break from being alone in her house. When even the television can’t punch through the unbearable quiet.

They watch a school of cod drift by, propelled by the tank’s fake current. If they wait four minutes, Cameron knows, they’ll come by again. What a life, those endless laps.

Something warm, like contentment, floods through Cameron as he slips into bed.

The tower of tea towels threatens to topple as Tova adds another to the top.