The piano came with me, because it was mine to keep, and because someday, in a bright townhouse with no cage in it, I intended to put my daughter’s hands under mine on those same keys, in that same afternoon light, and begin again.

Chapter 12 — The Funds Cleared

On the sixth day, Andrew called.

“The funds cleared,” he said.

“Closing is officially complete.”

I closed my eyes, sitting on the floor of my new townhouse, my daughter asleep in a patch of afternoon sun on the rug beside me.

“The house is sold?” I asked, needing to hear it said plainly.

“It’s sold, Natalie,” Andrew said.