Dana washed the dishes while Helen told me about the winter Walter had tried to learn ice skating and returned with a bruised elbow and an outrageous story about saving a stranger from falling.

I had never heard that one.

It felt like discovering a room in a house I thought I knew.

When Helen left, she hugged me carefully, waiting for me to close the distance.

I did.

Owen fell asleep against my shoulder a few minutes later, his warm cheek pressing into my sweater.

After the apartment grew quiet, I took out the compass and fitted the halves together.

The numbers were still there.