“No. Nope. I’ve been lucky so far. I’m just . . . well, people say I’m very compassionate. In fact, one of the reasons I liked Sarah so much was because she told me a lot about Lauren, and I could see how much of a bond they had. It was very . . . affecting.”

They smiled at each other, and then Ken turned back to him. “What do you do for work, Josh?”

“I’m a medical device engineer,” he said. Sarah was bustling around the kitchen, opening a drawer, pulling out a serving spoon. She knew where everything was, quite at home. It irked him a little, even if she knew their kitchen because of all the time she’d spent helping out. But it wasn’t fair. Why did Lauren have to die? Why was it Lauren? He’d stab Sarah through the heart right this minute if it could make his wife come back.

“Cool,” said Ken, and Josh didn’t know what he was commenting on.

“He’s selling himself short,” Sarah said, smiling. “Josh is kind of a big deal. He’s sold . . . what, twelve patents? Five that are already on the market?”

“Nine. Nine patents, five on the market.”

“So it’s a pretty lucrative field for you, Josh?”

Was it him, or was Ken using his name an awful lot? Maybe that was what normal people did, a method to remember names. “Sure. I mean, so far, yes. Um . . . I should finish cooking here.”

It would be hours before he was alone again in the apartment. An eternity. He got a pan out for the rice and started boiling water.

This is hard, Lauren, he thought. I’d like to call you later and tell you what a failure it was, but you were incredibly rude and died. His throat tightened at the memory of her last hours. No. Absolutely not. He would not revisit that time. Ever.

The thought made him relax the tiniest bit. He could put that day away. It would be best that way. Far better to think of her smile, her laugh, her freckles, her eyes.

I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.

Darius and Jen returned from the bedroom, thank God, and sat with Ken in the living room. Ken asked Darius about his profession, how much he traveled, where they lived. It was so weird to have a stranger here, but the conversation was like white noise, and Josh was grateful that no one was asking him anything at the moment. Sarah set the table while Jen sat on the couch with Pebbles and stared out the window, wiping away tears from time to time.