Then she heard the key in the front door.

There was no thought behind what she did next.

She was forty-one years old and eleven days out of surgery and she moved like a kid — three fast steps across the living room and out through the balcony doors, which were already open six inches to air the place, and behind the long curtain that hung to the floor on the left side.

She was going to count to five and step out and watch his face.