I stood at the hallway console for a long time.
The house was quiet. Erick was upstairs. I could hear the shower running. He'd be another fifteen minutes at least. He always was.
Lily's photograph sat in its silver frame exactly where I'd placed it three days ago. She was laughing in the picture. Her front tooth was missing. She had a smear of chocolate on her chin.
I pressed my fingertips to the glass. Then I pressed my lips to it.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
I didn't know what I was apologizing for. For leaving. For staying as long as I did. For all the calls he didn't answer.
I picked up my suitcase.
Then I walked to the garage.
Erick's BMW was parked in its usual spot. Black. Polished. He'd had it detailed two days ago. I could still smell the leather cleaner.
I opened the back door and set my bag on the driveway.
From my purse, I pulled the folded square of paper. I'd picked it up from the county office yesterday. The clerk had slid it across the counter in a manila envelope and said, "I'm so sorry for your loss," and I'd nodded and walked out.
I unfolded it once. Just to see.
*Lily Rose Lawson.*
*Date of Birth: March 14, 2019.*
*Date of Death: April 10, 2024.*
*Cause of Death: Sudden Cardiac Arrest.*
I refolded it. Smaller this time. Precise edges. I slid my hand between the back seat cushions, deep into the crevice where crumbs and receipts and forgotten things collected, and I pushed the paper all the way down.
Then I closed the door.
I picked up my suitcase. I walked to the end of the driveway. The rideshare pulled up thirty seconds later.
I got in. I did not look back.
---
Erick came downstairs twenty minutes after I left.
He poured himself coffee. He checked his phone. He saw my text — the one I'd sent from the car: *Flying to New York for a few days. Work thing. Don't wait up.*
He frowned at the screen. Then he shrugged and opened another message thread.
He typed fast.
*She's gone for the week. You free?*
Marlowe's reply came in under a minute.
*Always.*
---
By noon, Marlowe was standing on his front step.
She wore a black dress. Thin straps. Red lipstick. She smiled when he opened the door.
"Miss me?" she said.
He pulled her inside.
They didn't make it upstairs. They made it to the couch. Then the hallway. Then, finally, stumbling and laughing, to the garage.
Erick opened the back door of the BMW and Marlowe slid in. He followed. The door slammed shut.
The windows fogged fast.
---
Afterward, they lay tangled together in the narrow space. Erick's shirt was on the floor. Marlowe's heel had fallen into the footwell.
He was breathing hard. Grinning. He ran a hand through his hair and laughed.
"God, I needed that."
Marlowe said nothing. She was looking at the ceiling of the car. Her face was calm. Unreadable.
Erick shifted. His shoulder hit something. He frowned and reached down between the seat cushions.
"What the hell—"
His fingers closed around paper.
He pulled it out. Unfolded it.
The first thing he saw was the county seal. Official. Stamped.
Then he saw the name.
*Lily Rose Lawson.*
His breath stopped.
He read the next line.
*Date of Death: April 10, 2024.*
Then the next.
*Cause of Death: Sudden Cardiac Arrest.*
The paper shook in his hands.
He read it again. And again. Like the words might rearrange themselves into something that made sense.
Lily was dead.
Lily was *dead.*
His daughter was dead and he was here, in the back seat of his car, with Marlowe's lipstick smeared on his collar and her dress crumpled on the floor and the windows still fogged from what they'd just done.
A sound came out of him. Low and broken. Not quite a scream. Not quite a sob. Something in between.
He doubled over. The paper crumpled in his fist.
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no—"
Marlowe sat up slowly. She adjusted her dress. She looked at him.
Her eyes were dry.
"Erick," she said quietly.
He didn't hear her. He was shaking. His whole body was shaking.
"When—" His voice cracked. "When did this—"
He grabbed his phone. He scrolled. His call log loaded.
Ninety-nine missed calls.
All from Elia.
All from the same day.
April 10th.
He stared at the screen. His thumb hovered over her name.
Then he saw the dates. The timestamps.
She'd called him ninety-nine times while their daughter was dying.
And he'd silenced every single one.
The phone slipped from his hand.
Marlowe reached over and picked it up. She set it on the seat between them.
Then she opened the car door and stepped out.
Erick didn't move. He sat there in the back seat, clutching the death certificate, his face wet and his breathing ragged.
Marlowe stood outside the car. She smoothed her dress. She looked back at him through the open door.
Her expression hadn't changed.
"You should call your mother," she said.
Then she walked away.
