He glanced at her.

“My mother chose them.”

“Then I understand.”

It was the first answer anyone had given her that day without trying to correct her feelings.

Chapter 2 — The Apartment

They stopped outside a three-story apartment building shaded by live oaks. The shared stairwell smelled of fried onions, laundry detergent, and someone’s cinnamon cake.

Before Matthew could unlock the second-floor door, it opened from the inside.