“There’s a rumor about it?” I tell myself I don’t care, but my stomach’s sudden summersaults say otherwise. “I had no idea my employment status was fodder for gossip.” “It’s not like that. Just with Brogan, we all . . .” He shrugs. “We all worry about you.” Sure they do. They worried enough to show up to my brother’s funeral—an endless line of broad shoulders in black waiting to shake my hand and avoid my eyes. And after that? Nothing. “You could visit him, you know.” Chris flinches and averts his eyes. “It’s just . . . hard.”
