She flew off the couch, knocking over a bowl of chocolates she put out for the guests who never visited. They dotted the carpet like little diamonds, and she watched as he kneeled over to collect them, cleaning up her mess. She wondered if now he might leave, but instead he spoke in a tone so low, it combined with the groan of the wind outside.

“I am going to see her.”

More of the indistinguishable emotion swirled inside her, so intensely that she fell a few steps back.

“How did you find me?”

“I went to see your mother. She made me a cup of tea. I can’t remember the last time someone has done that.”

Therese crossed her arms across her chest. “She told you where we were.”

“Don’t be angry with her.” He said it so softly that the words almost lost themselves in his breath. “She said you never told her what happened between us.”

“That’s because there was nothing to tell.” She stumbled across another one of Matilda’s socks and kicked it under a chair.

As he stood, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten how tall he was. He walked toward her. “There is a lot to tell.”

“It’s too late, Tim. You made your choice.”

His eyes . . . she remembered them. So gray, they were almost translucent. Now, they were rimmed in red. His breath quickened, and she could feel the change in the air.

“I need you to understand.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve met my obligations. I don’t owe anyone anything anymore. I want to see her. Please, let me see my daughter.”

The plea was too familiar, and she tried to force thoughts of Leah out of her head. She had expected his rage but hadn’t anticipated despair. She refocused, making herself remember her plan. She would not allow the months she had spent planning to go to waste. She was going to destroy him. To make him regret every decision that had led to this moment, to his choice.

She was about to tell him about his mother. About the lie she had perpetrated and the one he had spent his life paying for. She opened her mouth to speak, knowing exactly what was supposed to happen next.

And it would have if not for the blood-curdling scream that came from the unit next door.

Tim ran outside, and even though she could have slammed the door closed behind him, she didn’t. They were standing outside her neighbor’s, the sound of a woman’s wail so piercing, it made her heart skip. Tim pushed the door open and walked inside. Therese guessed the woman kneeling on the floor covering her face was Daryl’s mother, although they had never met.