Chapter 1 - The Knock After the Funeral
Six weeks earlier, Claire had buried her husband beneath a gray winter sky.
Daniel had died after a sudden heart condition no doctor had detected. One morning he was making coffee and singing badly to Ava in the kitchen. That night, Claire was sitting beneath hospital lights while a surgeon told her there had been nothing more they could do.
Grief changed the house.
The nursery still smelled like baby powder. Daniel’s shoes remained beside the back door. His half-read book lay open on the nightstand, face down exactly where he had left it.
Claire moved through each day by following Ava’s needs. Feed her. Change her. Hold her. Breathe. Repeat.
Three days after the funeral, Claire’s mother arrived without calling.
She entered with grocery bags and a tight expression.
“This place is too much for you,” she said, looking around the living room. “You should sell before you fall behind.”
Claire stared at her. “The mortgage is paid.”
“Taxes. Repairs. Heating. You don’t understand money.”
Daniel had handled most of their finances, but he had never treated Claire as foolish. Her mother always had.
Tyler arrived ten minutes later, opened the refrigerator, and complained there was no beer.
Claire realized then that neither of them had come to comfort her.
They had come to inspect what Daniel had left behind.
Before leaving, her mother paused beneath the framed wedding photograph in the hallway.
“Daniel should have made better arrangements,” she said.
Claire looked at the photograph. Daniel was laughing, one hand around her waist, unaware of how little time they would receive.
“He did,” Claire replied, though she did not yet know how true that was.
May you like
Her mother’s eyes narrowed, searching Claire’s face for information. Then she kissed Ava’s forehead without asking and walked out.
Claire locked the door behind her.
