In her home, Eileen hums merrily to herself. It’s been decades since she’s felt this happy, and she’s not about to let the positive energy go to waste. After Lily left, she got straight to cleaning up the kitchen, scrubbing down the used pans and making sure to scrub the syrup residue off the table. It’s all so domestic and sweet, something she hasn’t been able to do for someone since her breakup. But even then, it wasn’t quite like this.

With the last of the dishes ...