I listened, then asked whether she understood how frightened I had been.

She said she was beginning to.

We did not become close over a single coffee.

But when she asked whether Noah was sleeping through the night, the question sounded genuine.

I answered it without trying to make the rest of our history disappear.

PART 11

By the time my arm was free of the cast, Noah had begun recognizing voices.

He turned toward Beatrice when she sang to him and smiled at Richard’s ridiculous whistling.