We weren’t suddenly friendly.

Yet by the end of the day we had reached a framework our lawyers could turn into a formal agreement.

It gave the children a predictable routine and kept property questions within the legal process.

On the drive home I didn’t feel triumphant.

I felt tired and strangely light, as if I’d been carrying a box for eleven years and had finally set it down without discovering it was empty.

That evening I made pasta.