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Chapter One

Noah

I’d always been told that the greatest fear a —even more than death I wasn’t quite in a state of existential dread, at least not yet, but hearing that I inning the Governor’s award for my charity ith the politically oppressed and would have to rated on ht had to be perfect

They had informed me of the aell in advance Not only that I had been considered for this year’s gala, so I could show up just in case, but that I had actually won It was both considerate and disappointing at the same time But at least I had a feeeks to find a date and invite most of my family — not that I really wanted them to come

Really, an award for charity work struckup, I was told that charity was its oard and hadthat the left hand wasn’t supposed to knohat the right hand was doing An attitudeme fairly sure that she wouldn’t be all that inition and certainly wouldn’t want to coala

However, she would kill me if I didn’t ask

Deciding to put the worst call first, I picked up my phone in my office at Howell and Howell Law Firm and dialed my mother, as one of the few people in the northern heotten her a cellphone for Christ to ht to hold open her recipe books while baking She was always quite resourceful when it caht down to it

“Hello! This is the Wells residence How can I help you?” Mo when she picked up the phone She was always so proper I could just i-roo her designer pearls

“Hi, Mom,” I started

“Noah, darling! How are you? Don’t tell ain I just won’t hear of youanother family dinner”

“It’s not that,my bets “Listen, I have news”

“News?”