“You’re inviting yourself to my house?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a Christmas miracle.”

Before sleeping, he emailed his assistant asking that several nonessential meetings be moved.

His business would survive.

For once, he wanted to see whether the relationships he’d neglected might do the same.

He didn’t mistake Hannah and Sophie for replacements for Caroline.

Their difficulties were real, their futures belonged to them, and his grief remained his own.