was a real conversation, which made it harder for me to recognize what changed afterward.
By the fourth week, she wasn’t asking whether I could do more. One morning I found a yellow note on the island: Lucy at 2:45, Ethan at practice at five, chicken in the fridge, laundry in the dryer. I’d planned to read while the children were at school. I folded the laundry and made dinner instead.
When Claire got home, her first question was whether Ethan had his cleats. He did. She moved on
