“What’s funny?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Everything.”

PART 22

A year after I walked into that office lobby, I received a message from the receptionist who had told me Lucas was on leave.

She had learned through a mutual acquaintance that the visit had led to a family reunion.

She wrote that she’d worried she had upset me and hoped everything had turned out all right.

I called the office and asked if I could leave her a thank-you card.