Chapter 23 Summary

The medicine the doctor has been taking to slow the progress of Alzheimer's has destroyed his liver, and he doesn't have long to live. Codi takes care of him in his own room in the house she grew up in. In his lucid moments, they talk about the past and about Hallie and their hope that she will come back. She asks him to take her to the place where she buried her baby.

Codi gets an invitation from the school board asking her to renew her contract. They praise her for her "innovative presentation" and "spirited development of a relevant curriculum." Furthermore, she is going to be named teacher of the year on the basis of the voting of students and teachers. Codi is stunned. For the first time in her life, she has acted in a spontaneous manner, oblivious to what...