Chapter 10After Val’s departure, I walked through the house, moping. Before her arrival, I hadn’t been bothered in the least by the quiet. I’d rather enjoyed it.
But now, bereft of her presence, the house seemed gloomy. Lonely.
I allowed myself the rest of the day to wallow in sadness. Listened to the Carpenters and Enya, my go-to artists when feeling melancholy.
The next morning, I went through the usual routines of preparing to leave for work, feeling the ache of loss as I noticed all the little missing details. No Valerie at the breakfast table, sleepy-eyed with her mug of coffee. No quiet chatter as we read out bits and pieces of the news that caught our attention, as we caught up on the world’s affairs on our tablets. No “have a great day” as I headed out the door.
But gradually,
