She came out to him almost as soon as she did to herself. She didn’t want to be a jerk to someone who’d been so kind to her. And his kindness has continued. Here it is, a decade and a half later, and she is so queer, and he has two more marriages behind him, is vastly wealthy, and now maybe a little crazy. And yet, life is long, and here they are, living together with a shelter dog, subsisting on a diet of curated cheese and buttery chardonnays.

“Why don’t you take Sailor out for a spin? You know.” She sniffs the air and nods her head at their gorgeous dog lying like a cutout on the carpet. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

“Sure. I can do that. I haven’t really been out all that much today.”

“In all this national uproar I forgot to tell you, I got a call from Ty Boyd.” She tells him about the play and her chance to do the sets.

“Oh, Catie, that’s so excellent. Really, really. I feel the big time rushing at you. And you’ll love working with Ty. I should call him. It’s been a while.” Meaning he will never call.

In the shower, Cate thinks how Graham’s belief system with its complex architecture that used to seem a little too complex—now, in this new normal—is beginning to look almost reasonable. In an increasingly crazy world, Graham doesn’t stand out so much. But he’s still crazy. Most of his money is now in gold coins in two banks in Singapore. He had to fly there to set up the accounts, and he hates flying. Actually, what he hates is leaving the apartment. Her apartment. Amazon is a big help in this respect. When she’s showered and dressed, he’s back from walking Sailor. Now he’s ripping open one of the larger boxes. Inside is about five feet of crushed paper stuffing and a small box.

“Toothpicks,” he says sheepishly.

“Couldn’t they find a smaller package?”

“Sometimes this happens. I always assume some sort of nervous breakdown at the warehouse. I ordered these yesterday after I ate one of those Greek spinach pies.”

While it’s okay for Cate to think he’s troubled, she doesn’t want other people to. Much better he stay a little mythic. She has quit gossiping about him with Neale, and has avoided the matter entirely with Maureen, who knows everyone in the realm of Chicago theater. All she knows is that he’s staying with Cate while coming out of his marriage to Eleanor. By sequestering him, Cate is trying to buy him time to get his act together. Still, she probably shouldn’t be the only friend he talks to in person.

She asks if he wants to come to Mariano’s with her. “We’re out of everything.”

He astonishes her by saying okay.