I had come to understand that forgiveness, if it happened, would belong to her, not to my schedule.

Before she left, she said, “I am glad the children are getting to know you.

That is not the same as wanting my marriage back.”

“I understand,” I answered, and for once I meant it without qualification.

PART 17

The past came back into public view when a financial magazine published a profile mentioning my divorce, the returned transfer, and rumors that I had young children.

None of those details belonged to the public, but people who knew pieces of the story apparently believed they could assemble the rest.