“The new clerk asked me why this chair has a dent in the cushion,” she said.

“I told her someone sat here for a long time.”

“And what did she say to that.”

“That it looked like a good place to think.” Diane glanced up.

“I didn’t tell her who it was.”

I signed where she pointed.

She took the forms back, slid them into her folder, and didn’t get up.

“There’s a letter from the state,” she said.