Chapter 2: Chapter 2

“Hi, Dad. We’re about to sit down for dinner,” she said immediately as she picked up the phone, trying to head him off. “Can we make it quick?”

“Just wanted to tell you that Daphne and I expect you down in Mississippi for Christmas.”

What was with parents and Christmas this year? No one since college had been this insistent about holidays. Maura rolled her eyes and prepared to make her excuses. “Sorry, Dad, but Nat and I were just planning on having a quiet family event, alone, you kno—”

“Maura, love!” Natalie shouted from the other room, loudly enough that Maura’s dad grunted in recognition. “My mom and dad want to know what days we’re going to visit for Christmas.”

Maura groaned.