Once he forgot to mention a call from Lena until the next day.

I was furious.

He didn’t minimize it or claim the call was trivial.

He acknowledged the mistake and gave me the full notes.

Repair was less glamorous than a grand declaration.

It meant showing up for the next difficult conversation, and then the next.

On the refrigerator Paige taped a note that read: Nobody gets to decide someone else’s feelings for them.

I left it there, right beside Violet’s card.