“As quickly as clean paperwork allows.”
A short silence.
“Which property?”
“Marlow Avenue.”
“The one you bought for your daughter?”
“Yes.”
Rasheed did not ask the question in his voice. I respected him for that.
“Come in,” he said. “Bring the deed.”
By noon, I was in his office signing the listing contract. The market was strong. The neighborhood had become more desirable. A house like that could move quickly if priced right.
“I don’t want drawn-out negotiations,” I said.
“Understood.”
“Current occupants are out of the country.”
Rasheed’s pen paused.
Then he nodded.
“We’ll handle it professionally.”
That evening, I arranged movers. A family-run company called Declan’s Relocation answered on the second ring. Declan himself spoke in a direct, tired voice that told me he had spent half his life handling other people’s complicated transitions without asking for details.
“Whole house?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Storage?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow morning?”
“Yes.”
He gave a low whistle. “Urgent, then.”
“Very.”
By eight the next morning, I was standing inside the Marlow Avenue house with keys in my pocket and a moving crew behind me. It was strange entering without Brianna there. I had paid for the house, repaired the porch, replaced the water heater, helped paint the nursery that never became one, but I had always treated it as theirs. That morning, stripped of illusion, it looked different.
The expensive sectional I had bought them last Christmas sat in the living room.
The television Richard claimed he got on sale stood mounted above the fireplace.
Boxes of imported shoes filled the hallway closet.
In the kitchen, I found a stack of mail. Credit card statements. Late notices tucked beneath catalogs. Luxury spending lined up in neat numbers from months when they told me things were tight.
In the bedroom, I found their wedding album.
I opened it despite knowing better.
There were pages of Richard’s parents. Richard’s friends. Brianna’s college roommate. A photo of the cake. A photo of the first dance. A photo of Richard laughing with his father.
I appeared twice.
Once in the background.
Once at the edge of the aisle, half cut off.