“She’d love how quiet the yard is tonight,” Emily said.

“Yes, she would,” I said.

Beyond the kitchen window, the cul-de-sac lay perfectly still under the autumn sky.

There were no gas cart engines chewing up gravel, no heavy leather punching bags thudding against the pine fence posts, and no angry voices yelling over property markers in the dark.

Would Emily feel safe walking to track practice on her own tomorrow morning?

I watched her sip her tea, her shoulders loose for the first time in sixteen weeks.