Some things take longer to unlearn than they take to prove.”

I told her she didn’t owe me trust on a deadline.

We walked to the parking area together, then went to our separate cars.

There was still love somewhere beneath the hurt, but I had begun to accept that a family did not need to resemble an old photograph to be whole.

PART 16

Spring came slowly.

Chloe started riding her bicycle again after a winter of refusing to take it outside.

Camilla visited on a Saturday to help decorate the handlebars with bright ribbons.