I used to tease him that he could get a week’s clothes into a bag I would fill with shoes.

He stopped when I entered the bedroom.

“Mara tell you to do something else?”

“No.”

“What now, then?”

I put my handbag on the chair.

My wedding ring had left a pale line on my finger.

I turned it once, a habit older than some of the furniture in that room, and then slid it off.