“No, Grace,” I said, leaning closer so she wouldn’t have to strain to hear me.

“He won’t be coming here.”

Grace looked up from her hospital bed, a small, quiet smile touching her lips as I took her hand.

I stayed beside Grace in the post-op recovery unit until her breathing settled into steady sleep, then left her in the head nurse’s care and crossed the street to the courthouse clerk’s office to pick up the certified court order.

Daniel was waiting on the wide marble bench beside the fourth-floor elevator doors.