DAMIEN'S POV
Saturday I put up the new shelf.
Elara was at the pottery class she went to every Tuesday but had rescheduled this week for reasons she hadn't fully explained. She left at nine with her bag and a coffee and said she'd be back by noon.
I had three hours.
I'd bought the wood Friday on the way home. Same grain as the others, matching the existing shelves so the wall looked intentional rather than accumulated. I'd thought about it more than was probably necessary for a shelf.
The level was in the kitchen drawer where it had been since October.
I marked the wall, found the studs, drilled carefully. The first shelf had gone up straight on the first attempt. The second shelf also straight. I was developing a consistency.
This one went up in forty minutes.
I stepped back and l
