And for the next half hour, my son talked about a difficult project, a colleague who borrowed his stapler every day, and the restaurant where he’d had his first date with someone named Elise.

When we hung up, I understood something: Roger had not only left a marriage.

He had left an empty place in the way Trevor and I spoke to each other.

We were still figuring out how to stop filling that place with him.

PART 15: The Hearing

The next court conference was scheduled for a rainy Thursday in November.

I arrived early, wearing a charcoal cardigan and carrying the blue binder Trevor had helped me assemble.

Roger was already there with his attorney.