My mother-in-law blocked the entrance to my new apartment and screamed that her son had bought it for her, ordering me to leave.

lingered in tiny violations. A drawer rearranged. A missing spoon. My linen closet smelling like her sachets. A lamp moved six inches. I spent nights putting things back and realizing I was not just restoring a home. I was proving to myself that I had the right to touch every object in it.

Sophie came down from Portland as soon as she was cleared to continue reading …