Twelve Months Later, Ethan Came Back With a Sleeping Newborn and a Broken Suitcase

Its edges were worn smooth from years of turning the deadbolt.

It felt cold against my palm.

I placed the old brass house key gently on the bare granite counter.

It made a small click against the stone.

“You are making a catastrophic administrative error,” Richard said from the hallway.

“You have zero liquidity.

Motels cost money, Nora.

You left your wallet upstairs.”