He was warm, and easy, and affectionate, and it was, I understood now, all of it a performance, and had perhaps always been a performance, and I stood inside his arms and felt nothing at all except a cold clarity so complete it frightened me a little.

“I hate to even ask,” he said, in his gentlest voice, the one for difficult favors.

“But I need one last push for the business.

If you could sell your vested shares in the firm — just for a few months, until we’re off the ground.” He kissed the top of my head.

“And Rebecca needs some support right now too, with the baby.

We’re family, Val.