Chapter 31
“You have fifteen minutes and I’m staying in earshot.”
He nodded solemnly. “That’s fair.”
I almost smiled.
Eli stood in the entryway holding a long cardboard tube.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A copy of the Harbor House sketch. I had it professionally scanned. The original is with the attorneys.”
He handed it to me carefully.
“I thought you should have it.”
I unrolled the paper across my dining table. Seeing the drawing in full size made my chest ache. There were notes in the margins about sunlight, privacy, shared kitchens, child-friendly corners, dignity in small spaces.
Dignity.
Genesis had written that word three times.
“She understood something once,” I said.
Eli nodded. “I think she did.”
“Does she still?”
His face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
That honesty mattered.
He glanced around my apartment. “Maren, I’m not here to ask forgiveness.”
I looked at him.
“I’m here to say I’m going to earn a different life than the one I learned. Whether or not you ever want to see me again.”
Lena’s posture softened by one degree from the kitchen.
I rolled the sketch gently.
“That’s a good start,” I said.
He nodded, accepting the smallness of it.
At the door, he paused.
“My mother wants to write to you.”
I stiffened.
“She won’t send anything unless you agree,” he added quickly. “I told her that.”
I looked at the hallway, at the brass number on my door, at the threshold no one crossed now without permission.
“Not yet,” I said.
Eli nodded again. “I’ll tell her.”
After he left, Lena leaned against the counter.
“You okay?”
I looked at the sketch.
“I think so.”
May you like
“That sounded like a dangerous amount of maturity.”
I laughed, and this time it did not turn into tears.
