the house.
Too many rooms carried memories I wanted Sophie to forget.
Two weeks before closing, I returned for the last box from her old bedroom.
Derek sat alone in the living room.
Most of the furniture was gone.
Cardboard boxes lined the walls.
A FOR SALE sign stood beyond the front window.
He looked older.
Not dramatically.
Just tired.
Human.
I went upstairs, packed Sophie’s remaining books and photographs, and came back down.
Derek hadn’t moved.
When I reached the door, he spoke.
“I lost everything because of her.”
