“Would you like to come in for lunch?” Rebecca asked as Philip unloaded Alice’s luggage.

“Nothing fancy, just sandwiches and soup, but we’d love to show you the place.”

The invitation held none of the calculation that had colored our interactions for years.

“I’d like that very much,” I accepted.

Inside, the house was less than half the size of their former showplace, but infinitely more inviting.

Family photographs dominated the walls instead of expensive but impersonal art.