Our marriage had ended slowly, through missed conversations and the exhausted habit of assuming the other person would never understand.

The divorce was painful but not cruel.

We had attended Owen’s school plays together.

We had sat on opposite sides of a baseball field and cheered for the same number.

I had believed we were doing reasonably well as parents who no longer loved each other as partners.

Then Dana married Curtis.

At first Curtis sent me cheerful messages about game schedules.

He fixed the chain on Owen’s bicycle and once drove him to a birthday party when I was held up at work.