“I know.”

We signed what was in front of us.

There was no applause, no triumphant music.

Just pens, dates, and a set of decisions that finally belonged to the future rather than the argument we’d been having for months.

PART 18

The first time Brandon cared for the girls alone for an extended afternoon, I barely knew what to do with myself.

I walked through a bookstore, picked up a novel, put it down, and checked my phone three times.