He didn’t say a word all through dinner and went to bed early, just after sunset. After stripping down to his boxers and carefully stowing his dirty clothes in the hamper, he slid into bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. Despite the warmth of the spring evening, he was cold. In the shadows of his room, he saw the glint of a belt buckle, staring at him like the eyes of a coiled snake, and got up to tuck it away in the closet. He curled up in his bed again, staring out the window at the darkening sky. He felt so utterly alone. But he wasn’t, he reminded himself. June was just downstairs.
“Does he always go to bed this early?” he heard Ben ask.
“No, he doesn’t. Something is really bothering him.”
Her worried tone brought tears to his eyes; it reminded him that he was loved.
“June,
