And in the end, he made certain that the whole world would have to see me too.

Chapter 19 — What He Saw Coming

I have thought so often, since, about that afternoon three months before he died, when a frail old man had himself driven to a lawyer’s office to rewrite his will, and I have been undone, every time, by the sheer clear-eyed love of it.

Because to do what Mr.

Christopher did, he had to hold two very hard truths in his heart at the same time, and hold them steadily, without letting either one break him.

He had to see his own son clearly — to look at the boy he had raised and loved, and see, without flinching, that Justin had become a man who would discard a loyal woman for pocket change the moment his father’s back was turned forever.