***
Later that afternoon they moved around each other with the careful choreography of people learning new distances. Sondra made a grocery list on the back of an envelope. Reggie tightened the loose hinge on the pantry door because it had been squeaking for months and fixing small things was the only fluency he trusted. When their hands reached for the same sponge at the sink, they both pulled back, then she laughed once—a short, startled sound—and he shook his head, not unkindly.
"This is going to be awkward for a while," he said.
"A while might be optimistic," she answered.
"Then we'll be awkward honestly."
Scout thumped his tail against a cabinet as if casting a vote for any sentence that kept both of his people in the same room.
Near four o'clock Reggie took the work jacket from the hook and hung it in the hall closet instead. The patch disappeared behind the door. It was a small relocation. It felt like reclaiming a piece of the threshold. Sondra noticed and said nothing, which he appreciated more than commentary.
She stood in the guest room doorway with a folded towel in her hands. "I can cook tonight. Nothing fancy. Eggs and toast if that's all we can stand."
"Eggs," he said. "I burned them yesterday. Your turn might save the pan."
It was almost a joke. Almost was as close as they could get.
While she cooked he sat at the table and answered a text from Holbrook about Monday's filter order, then set the phone face down on purpose. Scout stationed himself between the stove and Reggie's chair, a furry hyphen connecting two people who did not yet know the grammar of their next chapter. When Sondra set the plates down, they ate without forcing conversation. Once she said salt, and he passed it. Once he said thank you, and she nodded. The meal was not peace. It was practice.
Afterward she washed; he dried. The window over the sink showed the start of dusk, that same soft muted orange sliding in whether they were ready or not.
"I'm going to walk him," Reggie said.
"Okay." She dried her hands. "I'll be here. Guest room light on. No speeches when you get back."
"Good."
When the light began to change, he found the leash.