against my skin.
It did not repair what she had done, and I did not invite her to stay.
But returning it without conditions was the first choice she had made that cost her something.
My father left two days later without speaking to me.
Harper moved her belongings out of the guest room and sent a brief message saying she would not contact me again unless I contacted her first.
I accepted that boundary.
Julian never used the house as an office, and I never asked for details about what happened between them.
Their marriage was theirs to confront.
The house remained mine, but I did not move back immediately.
Too much of the kitchen still belonged to the morning my father called my grief inconvenient.
Too much of the garage still felt like the place my family had tried to put me when they believed I had nowhere