“That’s impossible,” he said.

And that was my cue.

I opened the car door and stepped out onto the sidewalk, moving slowly, still recovering, my body still aching with everything it had been through in the past ten days.

But I had never in my life felt calmer, or clearer, or more completely myself.

I crossed the street toward the house I had owned and sold, toward the family who had locked me out of it, and I watched their laughter vanish, one face at a time, as they registered who was walking toward them.

“Natalie,” Ethan said quietly.