it.
For months, I walked around those things as if moving them would make her more gone.
Ryan started visiting more after that.
He called on Sundays.
He came by to watch ball games he barely cared about.
He fixed the loose hinge on the pantry door one afternoon and brought me a paper bag of groceries another.
I mistook usefulness for devotion.
Maybe I needed to.
Grief can make a grown man grateful for crumbs if the house has been quiet long enough.
Eight months after the funeral, Ryan asked if he and Cassie could stay with me while he started a small freight brokerage.
He had left his logistics job.
He said the industry was changing.
He said independent brokers could do well with the right network.
He said Cassie’s paycheck from the dental office would not cover their rent while he built the business.
“Six months,” he
