Kate stood outside the new house for the third morning in a row.
She did not need to be seen. She was parked far enough down the road that the security cameras at the gate could not catch her face.
She watched Karlos come out at seven fifteen.
Kate smiled.
Inside the house, Berlin stood at the kitchen window and watched his car disappear down the road.
He's changing, he's changing, he's changing.
She kept chanting those words the whole time. She could still not believe it. She kept repeating that she was overthinking things as usual, and her whole face lit up knowing there was nothing to worry about.
She held her coffee cup in both hands, and she breathed slowly, and she did what she had learned to do over two lifetimes — she looked at facts instead of feelings first.
Fact: Karlos had barely touched her in five days.
Fact: He slept on the far edge of the bed.
