Just before dusk, she opened her door to the backyard—not to see if Jake was there, of course, but for some fresh air. Who was she kidding? She did wonder if he was home, even though she didn’t want to see him when she looked like this. The light was dimming in the backyard. She admired the preening cardinal sitting in the tree, bright red against the dark branches, but she had a niggling suspicion that something was different about her yard. She looked around again, but her head was too heavy to keep upright. She closed the door and sank back into bed.

When she finally left her apartment to pick up some food supplies, she glimpsed the back of Jake through the window of a bar around the corner. He had said the bar was a real neighborhood find, with such a great atmosphere and playlist. Even though she had lived in the neighborhood for years, she’d never been there. Jake, his back towards her, was talking to a dark-haired guy holding a beer. He had on that worn, soft blue shirt that she loved on him. She felt a pang in her chest. Her breath caught. She walked on quickly so he didn’t turn around and see her. At least he hadn’t moved. She couldn’t help hoping that, once she was better and they saw each other again, he’d come back.

When she arrived home, she walked into the yard to figure out what had changed. The fence. Yes, the gap—the gap which they’d used to visit each other—in the wooden fence was boarded up. Three new plywood boards had been nailed in and dirt had been put in the hole dug by Biscuit. Her heart dropped. She hoped there might be a chance of reconciliation, but seeing the new plywood firmly nailed into place, she doubted it. The boards did not fit perfectly. You could see that there had been a gap, as if showing a scar of pain, but now it was a fortress, fortified, battle-hardened—ready to fulfill its mission of setting boundaries and keeping the other out.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Still sick but not feverish, Audrey went back into the office. She would’ve liked to stay in bed, but she couldn’t take another day off. In three days, the partnership decision would be announced. She could barely sleep at night and the office was tense. Conversations ceased as she walked by. Whispering assistants darted glances at her. Winnie was nervous for her.

As she sat and booted on her computer, her phone rang.

“Audrey, this is Eleanor Rothman.”

“How was France?” Audrey asked.