The second day after the choice started the same way as the first: careful, quiet, and slightly off-balance.
Alex came downstairs to coffee already made. Troy was at the counter with his phone, scrolling through email. He looked up, nodded, and didn’t ask where Alex had been in his head all night.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
Alex took the mug. For a few minutes the kitchen held only the ordinary sounds of a house waking up. Bridget passed through with a scarf in her hand and a reminder that she would be out until evening. Silas had left earlier. When the front door closed behind her, the space narrowed to the two of them again.
Troy locked his phone. “I have a partnership call at eleven. Stolas will be on it. His father too. It’s schedule and deliverables only.”
Alex kept his voice even. “
