“He might feel embarrassed, but his feelings are not yours to fix.

I will make sure the adults deal with this.”

When we reached home, Grace asked whether she could sleep in my room.

She had not done that since a thunderstorm the previous spring.

I said yes and made us both toast with cinnamon.

She ate half a slice, then climbed into bed with the whale book brochure she had brought from the auction.

I sat beside her and explained something I should have said months earlier.