“Good. It’s just we put it off. We were always waiting for something. Having children, Stuart to retire so we could move back to Willowbrook. We lived by very clear rules, but why? We lived our lives waiting and now I’m wondering if I’ve just continued that habit. I feel like I’m waiting, too. But I don’t know for what? Waiting to be sixty so I can move into Silver Pines? If I want kids, I should figure out a way to have them. If I want to be better, then I should be better. Somewhere along the way, I lost myself and I don’t know that it started when Stuart was killed. I think it happened a long time ago.” She sighed. “It’s something I have to think about.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, nor could he assess how her words changed things, or even if they did. Yet he felt uneasy about most of what she’d said.

“I’m officially changing the subject,” she said as she spread butter on her croissant. “What are you doing today?”

“Ironically, I’ll be waiting, as well. In my case, it’s for an inspection report on an apartment building I want to buy. If the report is favorable, then I’ll go through with the purchase.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s really what you’re going to do today?”

“Yes.”

“Just like that?”

He smiled. “It’s what I do.”

“That kind of puts my tiny life in perspective.”

“Your life isn’t tiny.”

“I’m not buying apartment buildings.”

“You’ve never cared if I had money or not.”

“That’s true. I thought your car last night was called a Trident.”

He laughed.

They talked for a few more minutes, then Unity said she wanted to get on the road. He rose and carried her small bag down to the valet.

While they waited for her car, she said, “Thank you for everything. I had a really good time.”

“Me, too. You know how to get to the freeway from here?”

“I do.” She pointed north. “I take a right at Northeast Eight, then get on 405 South. In a couple of miles, I merge onto I90 eastbound. Then it’s a straight shot home.”

The valet pulled up in Ellen’s Subaru. Unity kissed Thaddeus once, and handed the valet ten dollars before getting in her car and driving away.

Thaddeus knew she had to get back to her business and her life. He didn’t mind her leaving—that was inevitable. What he didn’t like was the sense that somewhere along the way, he’d been left, as well.

Something was wrong. Keith had felt it from the moment everyone had climbed on the bus, and throughout the drive to Eugene, the feeling had only increased.

He couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Ellen had been quiet, but that was because she’d mostly been leaning against the window, dozing. The teens were also less talkative than normal. No doubt they were tired, too. It had been a long trip, but a good one. This was the last college and by late tomorrow afternoon, they would all be home.