Chapter 15 - One Turn Before the Music
Six months later, June could turn toward my voice but still favored her left side. I rented a small duplex in Oak Cliff, returned to work as a compliance consultant, and paid for therapy with savings that had once been our expansion fund. Ethan lived nearby under our separation agreement. He attended counseling, paid support on time, and completed supervised visits without asking me to soften the findings. Serena sent one photograph of her son, then stopped. We were not friends, but neither let Ethan translate the other again. Vance reopened under a new name with no sponsor wall and no executive override. The brass birth chime remained disconnected; families chose their own music at the bedside. On Sundays, Ethan sat on my porch while I brought June outside. He never wore the gold cufflinks. That evening, after returning June, he set her wooden music lamb on the step; its key had come loose. I watched him walk to his car. Then I turned the key once, stopping just before the first note.
