“He was nineteen and determined to pay back everyone who helped him.”

I ran my hand over the wood.

At nineteen he had been capable of deep gratitude.

At forty he had been capable of cowardly secrecy.

Both were part of the man I knew.

When I told Gregory about the visit that night, he didn’t ask whether Violet had defended him.

He asked what I had learned about Rose.

I told him about the seedlings, the van, and the nickname Professor Wrench.