By eleven that morning, bright late autumn sun was falling across the dark glass coffee table in the front room.

David sat across from me in the brown leather armchair, flipping through a little stack of white store receipts from his leather wallet.

He took a crisp fifty-dollar bill from his billfold and laid it flat in the middle of the glass.

He tapped his gold wedding band on the glass tabletop three separate times, a sharp clicking sound that rang in the quiet room.

“Here, take this,” he said softly, his voice completely gentle.