“I suppose so.”

It was painful to hear the thing she had suspected stated so plainly.

He had counted on her sympathy for Diane to carry him past the question of consent.

He had been right that Claire would feel sympathy.

He had been wrong about what that feeling required her to accept.

“I could have helped think through it last week,” she said.

“We could have looked at the increase, the lease, the other options.