CHAPTER 27

          For the next few days, Kaleb settled back into what his life was like pre-Sparkle and Hayzel. He worked on his secret project, which didn’t really need to be a secret anymore because he always finished what he started. He tried to put them out of his mind, but how could he when he sensed Sparkle in every damn corner of his house?

          In Martha’s suite, Sparkle’s scent still lingered in the air. But the rooms were empty now. No toys, no stuffed dog. Sparkle’s silky red robe wasn’t hanging on the back of the door, and that pitiful excuse for a Christmas tree was gone as if it had never been there at all.

          Every night, Kaleb sat in the great room in front of the fire and looked at the tree in the window. That it was there amazed him. Thinking about the night he, Sparkle, and Hayzel had