Evening arrived without ceremony, folding itself around Violet as naturally as breath. The city did not demand her attention the way it used to. It existed alongside her instead of pulling at her. She noticed the rhythm of her steps as she walked, the way her shoulders stayed loose, the way her thoughts moved without urgency. Nothing inside her felt scattered.

When she reached Bryan’s building, there was no pause at the door. No internal check. She entered with the same quiet certainty that had followed her through the day.

He was waiting, though not in the way waiting usually looked. He stood near the counter, jacket already set aside,...