And for years, I built a life that did not depend on discovering whether I was right.

PART 5: The First Quiet House

My first trimester was lonely in ways I had not anticipated.

The large house I’d kept had three guest bedrooms, a sunroom, an indoor exercise pool, and a dining table that could seat fourteen.

None of those things could make the kitchen feel less empty when I stood there eating toast at two in the morning.

I sold one of the cars and moved into the smallest of our three properties, a brick house in Evanston with a narrow garden and an old maple tree out front.