It caught only after I lifted the handle slightly.

“Keep our number on paper,” she said.

“And if the room becomes a problem, come to us or use the housing list.”

The car heater had warmed my hands.

When she drove away, I missed that warmth more than I expected.

Inside, I put the retainer receipt beneath the lamp.

A paid lawyer did not make me safe by itself.

But I had someone who could answer Patrick’s papers with papers of my own.