“He’ll do a good job,” I said. In truth the kiss had made me wary of the whole undertaking, but that was not a topic we would be discussing today. “And it will be a fair treatment, I believe, of Gregory. Of his best parts and his bad ones.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” said Wallis.

“When is this coming out?” Cricket asked.

I checked my phone’s calendar. The article would be published in less than two months. The clock was officially ticking. “Middle of April,” I said. “It’s long-form, and I know he’s doing a lot of research, some interviews.”

“I wonder if we should get out of town when it drops,” said Wallis. She was thinking about the renewed attention, the looks we were still receiving, even at that moment on the Wharf, the second glances, the is that...? squinty-eyed stares.

I turned away from the gawkers. There: I could almost pretend everything was back to normal. Though how I would ever face Atlas again was still to be determined.

“Atlas is a great journalist,” said Blake. “He’s curious and smart. I like reading everything he writes, even when he is writing about my own family.” He smiled kindly, and I realized he was offering these words for my sake, too. He was trying to make inroads, and I couldn’t fault him for it. In fact, I appreciated it.

“I hear you,” replied Wallis. “But I still think wistfully about moving somewhere else, like San Diego, or LA. I feel like I’d be so much healthier there. I’d be away from the drama.”

“Yeah, right!” said Blake. “Wallis, you say one of your favorite things in the world is the crunch of autumn leaves. You’d be bored of the sunshine within a year.”

“And you would never leave us,” said Cricket.

“You could always come with me.”

“Perfect.” I laughed, glad to be done with the topic of Atlas. “Let’s dream of moving to a place where housing prices are even more absurd.”

“When I imagine you,” Blake said, “you’re always in DC. It suits you.”

“You imagine me in a town filled with gossip and gridlock, literally and figuratively?” asked Wallis.