The rooms had not changed their dimensions, but they had changed their meaning.

Nora returned to collect a scarf and found me staring into the hallway.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“I was just realizing that I don’t dread coming home anymore.”

She squeezed my hand without making the moment larger than it needed to be.

Later I wrote thank-you notes.

One went to Nora for opening her door without demanding explanations.