space someone else could fill.
Final chapter
The laptop chimed with an incoming video call from Daniel. I watched it ring briefly, not to punish him or make him wait, but because I sat outside with hot coffee and had the right to choose when to answer. Then I accepted.
I remembered our call the morning after I left, when he’d asked for an afternoon of child care before asking whether I’d got home safely. I hoped this call could be different, though I didn’t know what he wanted until
