Cadence had fallen asleep after dinner, but not before giving Aaron careful instructions on what to do with her laundry, which she’d managed to put in the washer but hadn’t quite gotten into the drier before she’d convinced him to force her to go to bed. Clearly, she was exhausted. It had been a very long week, and her emotions had been on a roller coaster.

After tucking her in, he made his way down the stairs to follow through with his promise to throw her clothes in the drier. ...