The rented cottage had two bedrooms and wide windows facing the ocean.
When I entered my room and saw the water stretching toward the horizon, something tight inside me began to loosen.
I briefly turned my phone on.
There were fifty-three missed calls and twenty-seven messages.
Amanda wrote:
The children are upset because Grandma disappeared. Is this what you wanted?
Robert wrote:
I called the grocery store. You canceled everything. I never imagined you could be this selfish.
Martin wrote:
Amanda is falling apart. Come home and fix this.
Every message asked me to repair the consequences of decisions they had made without me.
For once, I did not feel guilty.
I turned the phone off again.
On Christmas Eve, Paula and I visited the town market.
We walked slowly, without a schedule or list of things other people expected us to buy.
I chose a simple bracelet woven in
