Six hundred grand doing nothing. Then it became a plan: they’d sell 2B, buy a townhouse further out, put the difference into a business.

Then it became a grievance: You’re the only person I know who’d rather sit on an asset than live. Then it became something else.

By the fifth year, he was bringing her printouts.

Comparable sales.

A spreadsheet.

An appointment with a broker he had made without asking her.

She said no.

She said no in January, in April, in September, in December.