Three months later, the Cloudview condo went on the market. The morning our agent installed the listing sign downstairs, I stood in our living room beside Michael.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes.”
We sold the condo six weeks later. I didn’t add Michael to the title first. Together, using separate funds we each contributed equally, we purchased a townhouse farther north. Both names went on the deed. Michael read every page. When we reached the signature lines, he faced me.
“This feels different.”
“It is.”
He signed. Then I signed. Outside, Linda waited with Sarah and Ben. Sophie held a small cardboard sign she had made herself. WELCOME HOME. Michael opened the front door first.
“What are you doing?”
“You should open it.”
“Why?”
“Because I opened the last door badly.”
“We open this one together.”
And when the door opened, there wasn’thing waiting beyond except an empty house, afternoon sunlight, and the quiet possibility of building something better than what we’d before.
