When Tara woke the next morning, she spent several long minutes in bed savoring the knowledge that there was nothing she had to do and nowhere she had to be. She was officially on vacation. Finally. The house was quiet around her, both Amanda and Marlene already gone to their own respective jobs, leaving her alone for the time being. It felt wonderful to have nothing planned and all the time in the world to get it done. Tara felt like a kid again, waking up late on a summer day, the whole world waiting for her outside. Only it wasn’t all that late—when she checked her phone, she was disappointed to realize that she hadn’t slept in all that long after all. It was barely eight thirty, nowhere near noon like she had hoped. Still, at least she’d woken on her own, and not to the blare of her