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The irony of that was not lost on Meredith “Sure ”

She hung up the phone and stared out her kitchenat the darkness On the wall beside her, the kitchen clock ticked through the minutes For the first time, she felt the truth of this situation: she and Jeff were separated Separate Apart She should have realized that before, of course, but somehow she hadn’t really owned it until now There’d been soon at Belye Nochi that the problee had taken a backseat

And suddenly she didn’t want to be here alone, didn’t want to watch some sitcom and try to be entertained

“Co for a walk ”

Ten s on the porch and went inside, calling out for Nina

She found Mo

“Hey, Mom ”

Her mother nodded but didn’t look up “Hello ”

Meredith tried not to feel disappointed “I’? Have you eaten?”

“I am fine Nina made dinner Thank you ”

“Where is she?”

“Out ”

Meredith waited for , and said, “I’ll be upstairs if you need me ”

Dragging boxes upstairs, she went into her parents’ closet The left side was Dad’s: a row of brightly colored cardigans and golf shirts She touched theers trail across the soft sleeves Soon his clothes would have to be packed up and given away, but the thought of that was ht now

So she faced Mom’s side This here she would start