Vern Dahl called on a Wednesday afternoon in February. And the first thing he said was, “Gordon, I hate to bother you down there.” I […]

For the first six months after Dad died, I tried everything I could think of to get Mom interested in life again. I brought her […]

My father, George, used to tease me about it. “Other people watch television, Claire,” he’d say. “You investigate dead relatives.” “They’re usually more interesting,” I’d […]

“Hand it over!” I heard the shout from two aisles away. A man’s voice. Loud and sharp, the kind of voice that makes everybody in […]

For the first time in our marriage, Ryan started talking about leaving the ships. Not forever, he said. Not right away. But maybe he could […]

I need to explain a few things. My name is Claire. I’m twenty-nine. I’ve been married to Ryan for four years. Ryan works on cruise […]

I straightened the girls’ hats for the fourth time while we waited at the cruise terminal. They were matching hats. Pale yellow, with little duck […]

I tried to smile, but Dad didn’t. He was looking at me with the kind of seriousness I’d only seen a handful of times in […]

That word came from my mother, by the way. Not me. When I was fourteen, I overheard her on the phone with my aunt. “Mason’s […]

The sound of metal cracking still echoes in my head. Sometimes I hear it when I’m falling asleep. Sometimes when a car door slams too […]