I looked at the marigolds glowing beneath the porch light.

“I think so too.”

PART 24

By the time Hailey started first grade, our lives had settled into routines that would once have seemed ordinary and now felt precious.

We walked to the corner on school mornings.

She carried a backpack covered in patches.

On Fridays we ate pancakes for dinner if the week had been especially long.

She still met with her therapist, though less frequently.