But if the abruption was random then it could happen to anyone, and his daughter had died for no reason at all, and there was nothing to be done about any of it.

Whereas if it was somebody’s fault, it was, at least, a story with a shape.

He never said it.

I want to be careful.

He never once said the sentence himself and I do not believe he consciously agreed with it.

He just never contradicted it, for nine years, having been told the truth by a doctor at four in the morning.

I met Julián fourteen months after the divorce, in the least romantic circumstances imaginable — he came into Evelyn’s restaurant on a trip to San Diego, arguing about a lighting order, and Evelyn said, “Before you continue, this is my friend Hannah,” and he stopped mid-sentence and apologized to the wrong person.