“All right.”
She looked almost disappointed.
Maybe she wanted an argument.
Maybe she wanted me to beg.
I did neither.
Three days later, I arrived with two suitcases.
Vanessa opened the front door.
She looked at the luggage.
“That’s all?”
“For now.”
She stepped aside.
Ethan was still at work.
The children were at school.
Vanessa led me upstairs.
Then another flight.
Then another.
Their home had three floors.
The main bedrooms were on the second.
The third had two small rooms.
One was used for storage.
The other had once been a sewing room.
That became mine.
A narrow bed stood against one wall.
There was a dresser.
A lamp.
And a window overlooking the street.
On the door was a sheet of white paper.
Vanessa had written across the top in thick black marker.
HOUSE RULES FOR RESIDENT.
I stared at it.
She folded her arms.
“Just so there aren’t misunderstandings.”
