“I’m not ready,” she said.

“Then you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” I replied.

“You can still talk privately with someone who knows how to help you make a plan.”

Priya joined us and offered to speak with her away from the room.

I stepped aside.

That was all I could do, and it was enough.

On my way home, I stopped to buy pears.

Josephine had recently decided that pears were the best food in the world, provided she could throw half of one off her high chair.