“One visit at a time.”

She nodded.

She did not ask for a date to prove she had been forgiven.

That afternoon, she put clean clothes away and took the empty boxes to the hall.

When she left, she asked whether we needed the door latched rather than deciding which lock she preferred.

I watched her follow the answer.

Small boundaries did not replace the legal questions.

They gave us a way to see whether change existed outside statements prepared for a hearing.