September arrived with the crisp scent of turning leaves and the quiet ache of an empty bedroom at the end of the hall.

Lily’s room still smelled faintly of her coconut shampoo and the vanilla candle she’d burned while packing. The Denver Pioneers poster dominated one wall; the BU scarf she couldn’t bear to leave behind hung over the desk chair like a promise. Everett had already claimed two of her old hockey sticks “for safekeeping,” and Clara (now toddling with fierce ...