ia's
building that looked like it was h
elonging to a life I didn't recognize as mine. Rain from earlier still puddeginning. I couldn't
People rushed past-couples laughing, business people on phones, teenagers w
enthouse had made me forg
Harper's name flash
could speak. "I'm three blocks away with enough takeout to feed a small
yet," I admitted
ed from fierce to gentle in a he
e building entrance, then at my suitcase contain
pression, four years of survival mode before Daniel appeared like a miracle. I'd been drowning, and he'd been
out, arms loaded with bags, her pixie-cut hair slight
me. "We don't stand outside crying. We go inside, eat o
t my cheeks were wet,
et down her bags and pulled me into
to my hair. "A stupid, emotionally s
t hurt this much
inely loved him. And that's not a we
the other. "Come on. Let's see this place. Maybe it's got character. The c
was worse than
e size of a closet. A window that looked directly into another window ten feet away.
"It's definitely... cozy. Very... minimalist. Like, extremely mi
ything, I al
he couldn't decide which cuisine would fix a broken heart so she'd brought them a
ton that I suspected doubled as the bed. "E
futon groan
, probably cost more than a week's groceries. "To
s mechanically b
y, staring at the wine. "That the marriage was
u belie
the papers
you believed him. That means you loved him
looked up.
n't have proper plates yet. The absurdity wasn't lost on either of us-three years ago, I'd bee
now?" Harper a
gone. "Find a job, I guess. Figure out how to be
re section. Who made me laugh until I cried over terrible reality TV. Who had opinions and dreams
. "That woman feels
d over, squeezing my hand. "One day at
errible dating app profile she'd encountered. At some point, we attempted to
were in college," Harper muttered, w
ng was ea
bed, snoring softly. I sat by the window, watching the cit
ight up with his name. I told myself I didn't care if he was awake, wonder
c and desperate. I grabbed it, pulse racing "Financial docu
m. His
t cold. Every asset split, every belonging accounted for, eve
ntified three years of love in do
n of the new address for future correspondence." Cl
ressed my forehead against the cool window
Daniel was probably already asleep. Or working. Or whatever he
, who'd lost my father, my dreams, and now my marriage-fina
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