Over the next several days, Nick paid for the missing clothes from the list. I replaced the work items first because I had shifts to cover. I bought practical things for after Nora arrived, too. I did not buy another green dress for the photo session. I could have found something similar, but it would not have been the dress I had picked, and I did not want to pretend that part had been fixed.
Tara returned the remaining clothes. She apologized again, this time without asking me to keep it from Elaine. I accepted the apology, but I did not tell her we were fine. We were not.
Nick did not come back to live with me. We spoke, but I did not give him a date when everything would be normal again. He had not made a mistake by taking the wrong bag from a closet. He had decided I would say no, taken my belongings anyway, and told his sister I had agreed.
