Ryan left just after six.

He kissed me at the door the way he always did before a long work trip—distracted, already thinking about the airport—and told me not to wait up, he’d call when he landed. The door closed. The apartment settled into that particular kind of quiet that only existed when he was gone for more than a night. I poured a glass of wine, turned on the television for noise, and tried not to count how many days it would be this time.

The knock came at 8:17.

I wasn’t expecting anyone. When I opened the door, Nathan and Lucas stood in the hallway. Ryan’s two best...