Chapter 78

• Julian asked if I wanted to disappear for a day. He said it with that quiet certainty of his, the kind that made it feel less like a question and more like a lifeline. We were still in the middle of everything, still buried under court dates and headlines and Claudia’s notes that never seemed to stop multiplying. But he stood in the doorway with two mugs of tea and a canvas bag slung over his shoulder, and something in his voice made it impossible to say no.
• I did not pack much. Just a sweater, a pair of sandals, a book I would not read, and one of the soft scarves my mother had given me when I left home the second time. It had been sitting in my closet untouched for months. I wore it that day because it reminded me of silence and softness and the kind of comfort that asked for nothing in return.
• We drove west with the windows cracked and the radio low. Julian let me choose the music, and I picked something slow that matched the shape of the sky. The clouds were pale and gentle, the kind that looked like they might disappear by noon. Neither of us said much during the drive, but it was not uncomfortable. It felt like breathing. Like finally being allowed to exhale after holding everything too tightly for too long.