The house felt smaller in the heat of the afternoon. Sunlight slanted sharply through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long lines across the polished marble. Andrea moved through the kitchen and dining area with practiced efficiency, but every sound, the creak of a floorboard, the scrape of a chair made her flinch.
She hasn't had a conversation with Daniel since after lunch. Daniel had been quiet all day. Not absent, not invisible, but quiet, the kind of quiet that pressed against her chest until she couldn’t breathe. It was worse than any argument. At least fights had edges she could grab onto; this was just… tension, a living thing curling around her throat.
She set down a tray of utensils, her fingers trembling. Focus. She told herself it over and over. Chop, stir, plate, repea
