Julia showered, spending a very long time in the hot spray before she got out. The Lighthouse Inn produced wonderful warm water, because she never came close to running out. After she’d dressed and stepped out of the garden room, she knew Maddy had gone. The building sat in silence, the kind the brownstone had been steeped in once Alan had packed his things and moved out.
She’d stayed for another month before this job here had started, and since he was the real estate expert, she’d left the sale of their home to him. Before, whenever she thought about losing the five-story, rich-with-history brownstone where they’d raised their children, tears would prick her eyes. Today, they didn’t. Today, she simply wanted the silence to give way to some party music.
In the office upstairs, she turned
