She drove back on Sunday evening.
Nora fell asleep twenty minutes into the journey the reliable consequence of fresh air and a full day and the particular exhaustion of being five and enthusiastic about everything. Her head tipped sideways against the car seat the way it always did, mouth slightly open, one hand loosely holding the fox book she'd insisted on keeping within reach even though she was asleep before she could open it.
Julia drove in the quiet.
Her sister had hugged her at the door for slightly longer than usual the kind of hug that communicated things words would have made smaller. Julia had let herself be held for a moment before stepping back.
"You know what to do," her sister had said.
Not advice. Just acknowledgment.
Julia had nodded.
And driven away.
The city r
