Simone stood to leave first. She hugged Amara. She shook Marcus's hand. She faced Nia and said, "If you need anything with the Oak Hollow paperwork, you have my number. If you don't call, I'll assume that's healthy."
Nia surprised herself by extending her hand. "Thank you for not being what I thought you were. And thank you for being honest when I asked ugly questions."
Simone's grip was firm. "Good luck in the yellow room."
Then she was gone, the white SUV merging into California traffic, leaving the Ellisons alone with their ice cream and their future.
The pale blue house received them with the indifference of places that have not yet learned a family's noises. The moving crew unloaded with the same efficiency they had used to empty the other life. Boxes rose in stacks. The sofa found a wall. Amara's bed went together under the window that faced the orange tree. Nia hung the pier photograph on a nail that was already in the wall, slightly crooked, and decided crooked was fine for now.
Evening came earlier inside unfamiliar windows. They ordered pizza because Simone had been right about pizza and because cooking required knowing where the pans lived. Amara fell asleep on a pile of blankets in the living room before eight, sticky with sauce, elephant tucked under her chin. Marcus carried her to the yellow-walled room that was not yet yellow, only promised, and Nia followed with a lamp that had nowhere permanent to sit.