house. The pain in my knee was a dull,

than came home.

a surprise fo

y and a girl around four and six years old, wa

hey were Eleanor's c

asked, my voice

athy. "He and his wife... they passed away in a car accident. They're orphans, Ell

e, under my roof, and feeding me a story about

children. The little

," I

rgue. He thought I was still the s

guest rooms, then came back to t

the sofa, his express

ly. "And I know I've been... distant

ick folder fro

bout our future. About prot

e transfer agreement. He was signing over a controlling

d. "So you're always secure. So y

every long "business trip" that coincided with one of her pregnancies, he would come home with

, it was

papers and a

, Ellie.

Then I looked at him, at

picked up the pen

Vance

e last