When the email was finished, Elizabeth saved it as a draft and slid the laptop back toward Gwen. “Want to read it before sending it?” Gwen skimmed it, then clicked send without changes. “That’s good,” she said. “Thank you.” Elizabeth nodded, already reaching for the next stack of documents.
That evening, they had dinner in front of the TV—something Gwen hadn’t done in weeks. Elizabeth didn’t fill the silence with unnecessary talk. She just sat nearby, sometimes commenting on the news, sometimes not. Gwen realized she wasn’t bracing for conflict anymore. She wasn’t second-guessing every word.