Her smile widened. "Just think about it! Fresh start. Good schools. Jack makes good money—he's in tech. You could go to college out there."
"I'm already in school. Iris is already in school."
"Better schools," she pressed. "And you wouldn't have to work so hard. Jack said he'd help-."
"Let me get this straight. You walk out, disappear on us, and now you want us to move across the country to live with some guy we've never met?"
Her smile faltered. "It's not like that. Jack is special."
"They're all special, Mom. Until they're not."
Iris returned with three mugs of tea on a tray. "I made chamomile," she announced. "For calming. We all need calming."
She set the tray on her desk and handed out mugs. I took mine automatically, though I had zero interest in tea right then.
"Now," Iris said, settling herself cross-legged on the floor, mug cupped between her palms. "Mom was telling me about California."
