The answer did not resolve itself.

I could love his warmth and still ask what he had hidden.

I could recognize a real kindness without using it to cancel a real deception.

But that distinction was difficult to hold while watching people congratulate us on being happy.

During the first course, I kept one hand on the clutch.

A guest asked about my work, and I answered.

Then she asked a follow-up question, and I realized I had no memory of the first answer I had given her.