The hospital called and said a little boy had listed me as his emergency contact. I laughed nervously and said, “That’s impossible. I’m 32, single, and I don’t have a son.”

or try to “fix” everything. She does something much quieter: she stays. She listens. She becomes a stable point in a situation built on instability. That’s far more believable—and, in many ways, more meaningful.

By the end, the story doesn’t resolve into perfection.

Rachel is safe, but still healing. Oliver is protected, but still processing. Nora is continue reading …