For a few seconds I almost told him about Liam.

I wanted to put every injury on the table at once and watch him explain.

Instead I remembered Mr.

Callahan’s advice to settle the property questions carefully and decide when a confrontation was safe.

I wasn’t protecting Kenneth anymore.

I was protecting my ability to make informed decisions.

Before I left the study, he asked, “Are we okay?”

I looked at the man who had once stayed awake with me through a fever and had once held my hand at my mother’s funeral.