She had come to her hotel a stranger, to learn its true character, and she had learned it, in full, the worst of it and the best of it, and she had answered both, and now there was only the sleeping weight of her daughter and the quiet corridor and the memorial flowers to carry upstairs, into the first peaceful hours of a very long day.

Chapter 20 — The Way You Treat a Stranger

The next morning, golden autumn sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Suite 904.

Clara stood by the glass in a soft cream sweater, a warm cup of coffee in her hands, and on the table behind her, the red roses bloomed brightly in the morning light, filling the room with a delicate sweetness.

Lily stirred beneath the heavy white duvet, rubbed her eyes with her small fists, sat up clutching her stuffed rabbit, and found her mother across the room.