“I won’t be gone long,” Hailey said to Rochester as he stood in the doorway to the house.

She didn’t technically need to go to the office to file her story on Cassandra, but she wanted personal feedback on it. Besides, she needed to get out of the house. With Noah gone almost twelve hours a day, Hailey was climbing the walls.

This foray to her office was welcome. She needed some space from Noah. He’d been out of sight for the last three meals and she wasn’t sure she ...