“Which funeral?”

“Valerie’s.” Chloe’s hands went into her coat pockets.

“He asked twice.

I said I didn’t know anything, and I shut the door.”

She left ten minutes later with a loaf of banana bread she didn’t want and took anyway.

I unzipped the lawn bag at the sofa and shook out the yellow blanket.

It had a border of small white ducks, and the fabric was soft in a way that only comes from being washed again and again.

I folded it in thirds and laid it in the bassinet, and it fit the way it was meant to fit.