I could still picture Derek entering the ballroom with Sienna, the murmur of voices, Grace standing alone with her phone in her hand.

“I understand if you don’t want to,” Claudia said.

“There are plenty of other ways to help.”

I thought about it for several days.

I didn’t owe the ballroom another appearance.

But I had loved raising money for children’s books long before it became part of Derek’s corporate calendar, and I disliked the idea of abandoning something good because of what had happened there.

I agreed to spend the afternoon setting up book tables.