“A lot tired.” She didn’t want to tell him too many details every time something came up, husband or not. Her bones felt sore, and her muscles ached and her eyes felt dry and sticky. But tired would cover it.

“How about a foot rub?” he asked.

“Is there a woman on earth who’d turn down that offer? Sold, handsome.”

He sat down and pulled one of her feet from under the blanket, his hands warm against her cool skin. “‘Did you ever think that you’re a hero?’” he began to sing, grinning at her. His voice was adorably off pitch, and she smiled. Goofing around was a conscious effort for Josh, so it made her all the more thrilled.

“Not that song,” she said. “Anything but that one.”

He raised an eyebrow and kept singing. “‘You’re everything I thought I should be.’”

“Wrong words. Please stop or I’ll stab you.”

“‘I can fly higher than a seagull . . . ’”

“Eagle. Keep singing and you won’t get laid tonight.”

“‘Cuz you are the’— Whoops, song’s over.” He kept rubbing her feet, smiling at her.

“That was the song Jen picked for the father-daughter dance at her wedding,” she said, the memory making tears prick at her eyes.

“Oh. I’m sorry, honey.”

“No, no. It was sweet. And it was the perfect song for them.” She swallowed.

“What would your song have been?” he asked.

“‘Everything I Am’ by Celine Dion,” she answered instantly. “I picked it the first time I heard it. I was probably ten.” He looked blank. “It’s basically the best father-daughter song in the world. I’ll play it for you sometime.”

“Sounds good.”

“Do you ever think about your father?” she asked gracelessly.

His hands paused rubbing her feet, then resumed. “Not really. I never had a father. Ben was a great stand-in, as you know. Taught me to ride a bike and throw a football, which was funny, because he couldn’t throw to save his life. We made paper airplanes a lot. Really good ones.” He looked at his hands on her feet.

“Ben is the best.” She hesitated, then went on. “But just out of curiosity, you never checked Facebook or Ancestry or anything?”

“Why would I? Whoever he was, he left before I was born.”

“I don’t know. Hovering at the edge of death as I am, these things occur to me.” She bit her tongue . . . he didn’t like when she made jokes about her health, but he let it go this time and even rolled his eyes.

“Well, don’t think about it. And drop the melodrama.” He switched feet, his hands strong. The man had skills.

“Do you hate him, honey?”

He didn’t answer right away. “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m disinterested. He was a deadbeat jerk who abandoned my mother. Why would I want to meet him?”