Lucas
Thirty-five days.
The number stared back at me from the corner of my calendar.
A countdown.
A deadline.
A reminder.
Every day Amy moved closer to graduation.
Every day I moved closer to a decision I couldn't avoid forever.
And every day I found a new reason to postpone it.
Not because I didn't want to tell her.
Because I cared what happened after I did.
Monday arrived cold and gray.
The kind of morning that made Detroit feel smaller somehow.
The clouds sat low over the city.
Rain threatened.
Again.
At this point, I was beginning to think the weather was mocking me.
My first meeting started at eight.
My second started at nine.
By ten-thirty, I'd already answered enough emails to qualify as a second full-time job.
Normal.
Routine.
Manageable.
Until Noah walked in
