After she left, I took the blanket out of its paper.

It was beautiful, warm, and uncomplicated in a way its giver was not.

I folded it into Noah’s drawer.

Accepting the gift did not mean I was ready to pretend everything else had never happened.

PART 7

The trust records came in two large boxes that smelled of paper and dust.

Maren did not bring them to me all at once.

She prepared a simple timeline and asked me to sit with her and Richard at the dining table after Noah’s afternoon nap.