“When I was a kid,” Ash said quietly after a while, “I watched my brother Trent blame himself for our mom. He was the oldest, and I think he took on a parental role with all of us as a result. When our mom died, he took it hard. Probably harder than I did.” He laughed, but it was a hollow sound. “I was weirdly glad that she wasn’t suffering anymore, or dragging us all down with it.”
“What happened to your mom?” asked Violet.
“She killed herself.”
He said the words tonelessly, and he felt Violet flinch against him. He didn’t feel anything, saying those words. He hadn’t felt anything about his mother—or his father—for a long, long time.
She touched his cheek. “Oh, Ash, I’m so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really, but then again, I did bring it up.” He pressed a kiss to her
