Chapter 56

Flipping open my cell phone, I scroll through the contacts until I find my parents’ number. I place the call home without thinking too much about it, and the ringing in my ear sounds so damn far away. It’s hard to believe that this morning, I stood by the phone that now rings in their kitchen. And rings, and rings—

“Hello?”

I thumb on the speakerphone option and my brother’s warm voice fills the car. “Hey there, Joe,” I say, smiling when he shouts to my parents that I made it. “Just wanted to let you know I got here okay.”

“Good,” he tells me. “Good. You know I miss you already?”

I have to laugh at that. “Joe—”

“Mom’s asking about Christmas already,” he says, talking over me. “He just got in. Give him a chance to get settled in.”