He lowered himself into the empty chair across from me and put his face into his cold, shaking hands, and he wept, silently, while the cheerful jazz went on playing across the lawn.

Chapter 19 — The Biggest Strawberry

Lily came running back to the table a moment later, breathless and flushed and glowing from the dance floor, holding something aloft in triumph.

“Look, Mommy!” she announced, presenting an enormous chocolate-covered strawberry as though it were a trophy.

“Aunt Rachel gave me the biggest one on the whole table!”

“That,” I said, taking a napkin to catch a drip of chocolate before it could reach her thumb, “looks absolutely delicious.

Are you about ready to head home, sweetheart?