six-week limit, the dentist appointment, and my availability repeatedly.
I sat with the phone afterward. The short call hadn’t made me cheerful. I imagined Ethan and Lucy asking why their parents weren’t going away after all, and I hoped Daniel would answer without blaming me. Whether he did was his choice. I’d left two adults in their own home with their own children.
That afternoon I unpacked. I found a drawing Lucy had slipped into one of my books: three figures at a table with purple plates. I put it
