“Paid in full.”

She stamped the receipt and slid it back across the counter.

My hand was steady the whole time.

I drove home with the windows down.

The kitchen still smelled of coffee that had sat all day.

Gary’s breakfast plate was still in the sink from two weeks ago, with dried toast crumbs and a ring of butter, and I didn’t touch it.

The pineapple magnet held a grocery list to the refrigerator, the same as it had since spring.