Everything Unfinished Sat on That Chair

Chapter 1: Blue Chair

The blue chair had been in the corner of the bedroom for eleven years, though no one had sat in it for at least five.

It had become the place where unfinished things waited.

Clean laundry lay folded across its arms. A library book rested beneath a pair of jeans. One of the children’s red socks had been tucked between the cushions since Christmas. Whenever Claire noticed it, she told herself she would move everything tomorrow.

Then tomorrow arrived carrying lunches to pack, permission slips to sign, and another basket of clothes.

On the night her marriage broke open, the chair held a small gray sweater belonging to her youngest son.

Claire stared at that sweater while she cried.

She sat upright against the headboard with two-year-old Noah asleep on her chest. His cheek was warm against her skin. His damp curls smelled of strawberry shampoo and the buttered noodles he had eaten for dinner. One small hand was caught in the collar of her shirt.

Across the room, Daniel stood near the door.

He had one hand on the doorknob, as if the conversation were already over.

“I think I love her too,” he said. “I just need time to figure it out.”