It was a door left open an inch, and no wider — and Jason, who had spent his whole career reading exactly how much room he was being given, understood precisely what it was, and did not push on it.

Chapter 11 — Zoe’s Question

At noon, Claire went to pick Zoe up from her after-school activity. The little girl came barreling in and threw herself at her grandparents — and then stopped short when she saw her father standing near the table.

“Are you leaving again?” Zoe asked. Not accusing. Just checking, the way you check the weather.

“Yes. For today.” Jason knelt down to her level. “But I’m coming back Saturday, to see you and your brother.”

Zoe looked at him with an expression far too serious for seven. “Are you really coming back?” “Yes,” he said. “I really am.”

“Okay then.” And she said it in exactly the flat little voice he had described from a month before — the okay with no belief behind it — and Claire watched it go into him like a blade.