Instead, I watched her step into the hall.
Shewas gone.
But for a second there… Claire made me forget that.
Everything in Order
Claire
Apartment 2804 took longer to find than I’d expected, but it ticked every box, even the ones I hadn’t thought to list. Sunrise in the kitchen. Sunset from the living room. And if I tilted my head just so, I could still catch a handful of stars despite the city glow.
I stood in the center of the living room with a measuring tape in one hand and a mechanical pencil tucked behind my ear.
The apartment was quiet except for the low murmur of city traffic filtering through the windows; high enough to know we were in a city, low enough that the insulation was good.
The tape measure snapped back into its casing as I eyed the wall where the storage bench was supposed to go. Two inches too close to the coat closet, and Nolan would inevitably jam his elbow into it every time he grabbed his jacket.
I made a note in my notebook.
Shift two inches left. Confirm clearance with the door swing.
The next box was labeledKitchen – Brooke’s Essentials.I opened it carefully, removed items one by one and placed them into neat piles on the counter: reusable water bottles, Bento lunchboxes, a silicone baking mat shaped like a dinosaur, and an entire arsenal of cookie cutters.
I muttered, "Lunch prep here, breakfast gear there. Diagonal flow from fridge to sink. Efficient."
Two rolled-up rugs leaned against the wall. One was a soft gray-blue with a scattered geometric print, the other a multicolored weave with just enough pattern to camouflage jelly fingerprints and mystery goop. I unrolled both, weighed the options, and chose the bolder one. Kid-proof. Mostly.
My phone buzzed.
I swiped to answer the FaceTime call. Nolan appeared on screen, grinning like he knew something I didn’t. Which, to be fair, had been his default setting since third grade. He was in a car, hair tousled, seatbelt slung across his chest.
"Hey, you. You surviving the boxes?"
"Define surviving," I said, gesturing to the flat-pack toy chest at my feet. Half assembled, half mocking me.
"Brooke could’ve just bought that pre-built."
"And lose the joy of an Allen wrench and four hours of my life? Never."
He laughed, then rubbed the back of his neck. "You’re a good sport, Claire. Seriously. Thank you."
I waved him off. “Well, you know, you’re my favorite brother.”
“Um, Claire, I'm your only brother.”
I laughed. It was our standing joke.
"Quick question, are the girls still planning to share a room? I need to know whether to split the dresser drawers or leave them together."
"Yeah, for now. And you know they’ll end up in the same bed by night two."
"Then I’ll stock extra blankets in the closet."
He shook his head. "You really are running this place like an OR."
I arched a brow. "That’s because it’s the only operating room I am cleared for, doctor's orders."
There was a pause. Just long enough to feel it.
