The Math
Natalie’s POV
I did not go home right away.
After the board meeting, I drove to the small park three blocks from Noah’s preschool and sat in the car with the engine off. The afternoon was warm. Parents walked past with strollers and juice boxes. A woman in a navy cardigan laughed at something her daughter said. Ordinary lives, continuing as if the ground had not shifted under anyone.
I opened the notes app on my phone.
The sentence I had typed days ago was still there.
What would it actually take to leave?
I stared at it until the words stopped looking like a question and started looking like a door I had been walking past for years.
Then I began to do the math.
Rent near the main branch. I had looked at listings late at night when Daniel was out and Noah was asleep. One-
