What I did not feel, what I could not have imagined, was that the woman at the end of that drive would turn out to be the least deceived person in the entire arrangement.

Chapter 4 — There You Are

The facility was called St.

Jude Senior Living, an upscale place on the outskirts of town, all soft carpet and hushed hallways and the particular expensive quiet that money buys when it wants to keep unpleasant things out of earshot.

A nurse walked me to Nora’s room.

I remember standing outside the door, rehearsing, telling myself it was only an hour, only a performance, only sixty minutes I could count down on my phone.

Then I went in.