“What are you grumbling about?” Ruth asked.

“I really believed her.” I took a drink and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “You want one?”

“Sure.” She watched me pour her a whiskey.

“On the rocks?” I asked, but I knew, and I was already on my way to the freezer.

“Yes, please.” She beat me to it, opened the freezer, grabbed a few ice cubes, and dropped them into the crystal highball glass. We clinked our glasses together and drank.

“I really didn’t think Cally wanted children when she was so young,” I said, and I was truly puzzling over this. “She wanted to start a career.”

“That’s what she told us,” said Ruth.

“I gave her a list of accounting firms.”

“I know.”

“She even had that goal card about it,” I added. “Remember? Posted on her bathroom mirror.”

“I know, I know,” said Ruth, and we drank in solidarity. Ruth grimaced with each burning sip.

“And she passed the psychologist’s assessments,” I said as we drank again and swallowed.

“Yeah.” Ruth stroked the back of my shoulder. We’d taken precautions: we’d had Cally evaluated after extensive psychological interviews and written tests. “And Cally specifically told you she didn’t think of the baby as hers during the pregnancy, right?” Ruth took a sip, then swirled the glass, watching the ice melt.

“Early on, yes,” I said, remembering. “She pointed to her belly and said to me, ‘Here’s your baby.’” I lifted my glass and shook my head, incredulous.

“Yeah.” Ruth pointed to her drink, so I topped us both off.

“There were times I wondered, though,” I said, and maybe the alcohol had loosened a memory. “She said she was gonna miss us when this was over, or something like that. Do you remember?”

“Sort of,” said Ruth unconvincingly. “I mean, we’ve spent a lot of time together, so it makes sense.”

“And she said something about visiting the baby. Like she’d be there when the baby started talking or walking. I don’t remember the context.”

“Hmm,” said Ruth, frowning. “I don’t think you told me about this.”

“Weren’t you there?”

“I don’t think so,” said Ruth. “Was this when you gave her the list of accounting firms?”

“Maybe,” I said. I didn’t exactly know which conversation had occurred where and when. Was Ruth trying to take my deposition here or what?

“I wish you would have told me about that whole thing,” she said.

“I must not have thought much about it at the time,” I said. I knew that Ruth wasn’t thrilled with the extra attention I’d given Cally regarding her interest in accounting. I understood that.

Ruth wiped some crumbs off the counter. “We shouldn’t have chosen her, Hal. We should have known.”