Sadie’s POV
He didn't come the next day.
Or the day after that.
Or the day after that.
The croissants didn't appear. The wildflowers didn't appear. The black SUV didn't pass the end of the drive at dawn and dusk. The perimeter patrol – the one I had told him to end, and which he had relocated to the north ridge – went silent. I couldn't feel it anymore. The low, electric hum that had become a constant background presence in my life, like tinnitus or a low-grade fever, simply stopped.
He had done exactly what I asked.
And it was unbearable.
I told myself it was fine. I told myself this was what I wanted – space, distance, the absence of his overwhelming presence from my daily life. I told myself that a normal person would feel relieved.
On the fourth day, I drove past the Maplewood
