She was the bridge, and when she went, the bridge went.

Lorene and I don’t know how to talk to each other without her in the middle.” Del chewed on that a while.

Then he said, “You know what I notice, Walt?

You came to my garage and rebuilt an engine you had no reason to fix, for a truck that wasn’t yours, just so you’d have a reason to not be alone.

You’ll drive six blocks in the snow to hand me a wrench.

But your own girl calls, and you give her ten minutes and a lie.” He said it plainly, no cruelty in it, just the flat observation of a friend who’s earned the right.