And Derek beamed and kissed my cheek and told me I was the best, and went back to his wine, and did not notice that I had said whatever he wants about his father and meant it, unfortunately for all of them, as a complete sentence.

There is a particular power in a sentence that refuses to grow a second clause, and I had spent two years softening every no I ever gave until it was really a yes wearing a coat, so the plain hard period at the end of that one felt almost violent in my mouth.

Chapter 7 — I’ll Just Be a Minute

The food came out in waves and the alcove filled with the sounds of a family enjoying a feast it had not paid for, the clink and laugh and scrape of it, my sister-in-law photographing her lobster tail for the internet with a caption about her blessed, spoiled birthday celebration, my father-in-law holding court at the head of the table like a man who had built all of this himself.