Under the transaction description column, one line was typed in dark ink: Expedited Title Search and Property Encumbrance Report.

The box for the applicant’s name didn’t have Lauren’s handwriting in it, or mine.

It had a neat blue company stamp: Vance Commercial Holdings LLC.

I tapped my ring finger on my watch face three times, counting the seconds in the silent driveway.

The parcel ID number printed in the top right corner belonged to our single-family house on Maple Street.

I flipped the page over to check the back, but the other side was totally blank.