CHAPTER SIXTEEN B: THE ORDINARY DELIVERY

A delivery truck stopped outside Mark’s house on the first Saturday after the new door was installed.
The driver carried a long cardboard package up the path and rang the bell.
Mark felt his shoulders tighten before he opened the front door.
The driver asked him to confirm the address.
Mark did, and the driver handed over a replacement curtain rod Claire had ordered for the kitchen.
Nothing about the exchange was unusual.
Mark signed the delivery screen and thanked the driver.
When he carried the package inside, he noticed that he was still listening for footsteps on the patio.
He set the box on the table and waited until the feeling passed.
Then he opened the package and installed the rod above the new glass.
The curtains were light enough to move when he opened the door for fresh air.
He stood on the patio and looked across the street at the Parker house.
Its curtains were drawn, and the driveway was empty.
He did not go over.
Instead, he returned to the kitchen and called Claire to tell her the rod fit.
She asked whether the new door worked.
“It opens and closes,” Mark said.
“That’s a promising start,” Claire replied.
He laughed and watched the curtain lift in the breeze.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN C: THE LADDER

Martin brought the ladder back on a Saturday afternoon.
He had borrowed it months before disappearing and found it in the garage after moving out of the Parker house.
Mark met him in the driveway.
They carried the ladder to the side wall where it had always been stored.
Martin looked toward the kitchen window.
“The new door looks good,” he said.
“Luis did a careful job,” Mark replied.
Martin hesitated.
“I heard Helen paid part of the restitution.”
“The repair was handled through the court,” Mark said.
“I don’t want to discuss her payments.”
Martin accepted the boundary.
He asked whether Mark had heard from Evelyn Brooks.
Mark said her therapy appointments had resumed.
Martin smiled for the first time that afternoon.
“I used to repair those vans because I thought they helped people get where they needed to go,” he said.
“Some of them did,” Mark replied.
“That part of the work was real.”
Martin nodded and rested a hand on the ladder.
“I want to remember that without forgetting what happened.”
Mark looked at the street where the white van had once stopped in the rain.
“I think you’ll have to do both,” he said.
Martin left a few minutes later.
Mark went inside and closed the sliding door without checking the lock twice.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN D: THE PEAR TREE

The pear tree flowered two weeks after the replacement door was installed.
Mark noticed the first white blossoms while making coffee.
He opened the sliding door and stepped onto the patio.
The air was cool, and the grass still held moisture from the night before.
He remembered planting the tree with his father and arguing about whether it would get enough sunlight.
His father had insisted that the corner of the yard was perfect.
Mark had been skeptical until the first spring blossoms appeared.
Now the branches were full enough to shade part of the patio.
Mark took a photograph and sent it to Evelyn Brooks.
She replied with a picture of a small pot of herbs on her windowsill.
He smiled at the exchange.
For months, his phone had carried warnings, questions, and requests for information.
That morning, it carried a photograph of a plant.
Mark went inside, closed the door, and set two cups on the table because Claire was coming for breakfast.