Martha had greeted the trio with warm embraces, though something about the visit had felt slightly different from the moment they stepped out of the car. It was not necessarily a visible conflict, but there was a palpable sense of distance that Martha could not quite name.
She decided to push the nagging thought aside as she walked toward the sparkling pool where half a dozen children were already splashing and shouting loudly. That was when she noticed someone was missing from the group of swimmers.
Six-year-old Chloe Miller sat perfectly still on a blue lounge chair pushed against the wooden fence. She still wore her floral cotton sundress while all the other children had changed into bright swimsuits to play in the cool water.
Her small feet dangled inches above the deck and her fingers clutched the edge of the plastic chair as if she were trying to shrink into the background. Martha frowned gently because Chloe was usually the most spirited child in the entire family.