I needed to see whether he could sustain that honesty when nobody was watching.

I called Elise and read her a few sentences.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I think he has finally begun to understand the harm.”

“And what does that mean for you?”

I looked toward the window, where autumn leaves were spinning across the courtyard.

“I don’t know yet.

I used to make every decision according to what would keep us together.