“Oh, it’s not?” He twists his neck, his entire body. His stare is intense and invasive, making me sorry I ever brought it up.

“Shut up, Ray.”

“No way, man.”

“You’re out of line.”

“No,” he says, “I’m not. Don’t kid yourself, Bobby. Elizabeth did it before, and it worked out in your favor that time. As far as you know, she hasn’t since—though, to be fair, that’s just as far as you know.”

“Nothing has happened, Raymond,” I say, but my mind is under assault. All I can see is Elizabeth walking through the grass half-naked. Of course, I keep the image to myself. Maybe I want to save face, or maybe I just can’t bear to put it into words, but maybe tough love is overrated in the first place. The trouble is, I can’t kick this bad feeling in my bones.

“Excellent. You have an opportunity to take precautions so nothing does happen.”

I start to speak but Ray holds up a hand to shush me, and since I came all the way down here for his advice, I might as well take it.

Ray softens. “That shit that went down with Vanessa? You two almost destroyed your kid. You realize that, right? You fucked him up. It’s taken Jonah years to get back on his feet, but he looked happy the other night. I haven’t seen him that happy since his ninth birthday, man. Granted, I don’t see him much, no thanks to you, but the effect of that trauma wasn’t exactly subtle. He idolized you, Bobby. He worshipped you, and you broke his mother’s heart and made them move into a shitty apartment so you could share your house with a woman who turned out to be a much better match for you than Vanessa ever was—I’ll give you that—but do you think any of that mattered to Jonah when he was coming up and needed you? You weren’t there.”

“I—”

“I know. You wanted to be there. You got the shit end of the custody stick. That’s the pitfall of a speedy divorce. Doesn’t change the fact that you weren’t there. Whatever. But he’s finally come around. He’s finally learned to like Elizabeth, maybe even love her. She’s family to him now. You cannot let this family fall apart too.”

I drop my head into my hands and massage my scalp, trying to offset pain with pleasure. Ray puts his arm around me and squeezes my shoulder too hard.

“I’m saying this because you’re like my brother, and I love you, and I love that fucking kid of yours too.”

“I know.” I shake my head into my arms. My words are muffled by shirtsleeves and Fleetwood Mac.