“We’ll paint it three times.”

Sarah unsealed the heavy plastic drop cloth.

We spread it over the floorboards, smoothing out the thick wrinkles with the toes of our sneakers.

Three cardboard boxes sat in the hall against the wall.

They held everything Lily had brought from the brick duplex.

Eleven years of a life fit into three medium moving boxes.

Sarah knelt by the doorframe and started running the blue tape along the white floor trim.

“Did Arthur call back about the final filing?” Sarah asked.