Their grief hadn’t vanished, but the house had become a place where they could talk about their past without fearing that it threatened their future.

I wore the same borrowed tie I’d worn to the first hearing.

Victoria said it was beginning to look like a lucky charm.

I told her it was beginning to look like it had survived five children, because Sophie had decorated the back with washable marker.

The courthouse hallway looked smaller than it had on that first morning.

The bench was still there.

This time Lucas sat beside Mia rather than holding all the younger children against him.