Lauren asked whether I’d received the wedding photographs.
Not yet.
I asked how the weather was.
Warm.
We discussed her hotel.
The food.
A restaurant they liked.
Everything except the church.
It felt like trying to walk around a hole in the floor while pretending the hole wasn’t there.
After the second call, Ruth came over.
“You sound tired.”
“I am.”
“Then stop working so hard to make the conversation painless.”
I looked at her.