Beatrice set the quilt down, and Richard asked if I wanted to leave.

I nodded.

We carried the bags downstairs slowly.

As we drove away, I looked back at the apartment and realized I wanted to return someday, but not yet.

Healing would not be a straight line, and neither would learning how to have a boundary.

PART 10

The independent accounting took several months.

During that time, I learned more about business entities than I had ever wanted to know.