"Was?" Jo asked. She didn't miss the use of the past-tense there.
Her expression softened as she looked Molly over. She supposed that if her parents were gone, that would explain a lot about her state of mind too.
Jo felt a little ache when thinking about her own parents for just a brief minute. Most days she kept the emotions associated with them locked up tightly. But every so often, they got through. And every so often, she would pick up the phone to check in with her mom only to remember that her mom wasn't around anymore. That was the hardest.