Summary

Chapter 8 begins as Leo describes Emma’s relationship with her best friend, Jill. Leo mentions their “friendship always seemed off key” to him (50). Jill had arrived at their house on Emma’s due date and stayed with them for two weeks after Ruby’s birth. Leo was not happy, but Emma insisted “I told you I wanted her to help out…when the baby came” (51).

While Emma and Jill are at dinner, Leo works on Emma’s obituary. He seeks out Emma’s file containing important documents in order to fact check details. When Leo finds the folder, it is empty. After searching the house, he finds the stack of Emma’s papers hidden in the dining room. He notes that Emma did this intentionally: “To put something in this bag, in this corner, would be to deliberately hide it” (56).

In the papers...