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.“I did love you, Katherine,” he said.And then he went to find Jonathan, to tell him that his father, his cousin, and his grandfather would delay their fishing trip in order to wait for him.There was enough room for four in that big canoe they rented from Mr.Wilkie, all well-meaning Munroe men, even if only one of them was a mailman.It was just eight o’clock when Jeanie stood in the doorway of Lisa’s old bedroom.There was something perfect about the sight of that small suitcase opened on the bed.Jeanie heard Lisa brushing her teeth in the narrow bathroom.When she came back into the room, she was wearing maternity pajamas with yellow teddy bears in the pattern.No matter how many children Lisa might bear, how many grandbabies she would bring into Jeanie’s life, she would always be a little girl to her mother.“You’re early to bed,” said Jeanie.Lisa was pulling back her long hair now, slipping it into a ponytail.“Patrick and Chad are watching some stupid show on TV,” she said.“So why don’t we play a game of Monopoly like we used to do nights when Daddy wasn’t home?” She was already digging into the closet for the game, pushing past Clue, and Risk, and all the others she and Jeanie had played dozens of times over the years.“I got an idea,” said Jeanie.“Let me get in my pajamas too, and then I’ll make us popcorn.No butter.”“And those chocolate kisses you keep in that jar on the kitchen counter,” said Lisa.“What Dr.Simon doesn’t know won’t hurt him.Besides, the baby loves chocolate.”Down in her own bedroom, Jeanie stood for some time before she opened her dresser drawer and found clean cotton pajamas.Chad and Patrick were out in the den, shouting at the television screen.The Red Sox were most likely playing.On this night of all nights there was life again in the house.There was the sound of a suitcase being opened, of water running in the guest bathroom, of feet padding around in the upper rooms, of sweet and innocent laughter.There was the sound of popcorn popping, and a bat cracking against a ball, the way the house used to sound when Henry and Chad watched a game together.So it could be done.They could learn to live again.Jeanie sat on the bed and pulled on her cotton pajamas.She found her slippers, their toes pointing out from under the bed.She looked over at the pillow where Henry used to put his head.“Henry?” Jeanie had asked his lifeless body a year ago to the day.“You okay?” And she realized now, twelve months later, that she had to ask herself that same question.Jeanie, you okay? The answer was yes.Lisa appeared in the door, both hands resting on her belly, as if she were already holding a baby.“Chad and Patrick say they’ll play Monopoly too, if we wait until the ball game is over.”“Good,” said Jeanie.“I like beating Chad.”“He wants the race car and Patrick wants the cannon,” said Lisa, “but I get the hat.”“Deal,” said Jeanie, “so long as I don’t get stuck with the iron or the thimble.”“I’ll go get the popcorn,” said Lisa.And she was gone.Jeanie reached for her reading glasses on the bedside table.She would need them for the game.She turned out the bedside light and the room fell into darkness.She could hear the voices of her children floating in from the den, filled with energy, their lives still mostly ahead of them.She and Henry had created this family.Jeanie wasn’t sure if there were such a thing as an afterlife.She knew only about this life, the life she and her kids still had left.And that was enough.It was still early, just eight thirty, when Evie stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry.But it had been a long and exhausting day.She pulled on a clean pair of jeans and her faded denim shirt.This was usually the time of day when she would reach for a soothing joint, something to make her mellow enough to take on the rest of the night.But now, looking at the joint in her hand, she decided against it.Instead, she tossed it into the commode and flushed, watched it whirl around like a small white fish until it disappeared.She was fifty years old.It was time to rethink her recreations.And then, nothing but time on her hands, she decided maybe a walk would be a good way to wear off some of the day’s tension.That’s when her doorbell rang.Almost no one used the bell and that was because it was so hard to find under all the wind chimes Evie had hanging near the door.Larry Munroe was always teasing her about that.I’m the only one who can find your damn doorbell, Evie.Behind him, parked close to the curb, was Henry’s black Jeep.Evie just stared at him.In the past two weeks she’d almost forgotten why she liked his face so much.It was a face that tried not to draw attention to itself, like Henry’s face had always done.It was a quiet face that most people would never tire of seeing.“Hello, stranger,” Evie said.“How’ve you been?” he asked.“Same old, same old,” she said.Larry reached out and pushed some hair back from her face.She’d been looking for the elastic band she often wore, the one that held her hair back in a ponytail, when the doorbell rang.“I like your hair down, did I ever tell you that?”“I don’t think so,” said Evie, “but I’ll keep it in mind.You wanna come in?”“Not tonight,” said Larry.“I thought I’d spend this night with Mom and Dad.I thought maybe they’d like that.” He knew they would.He was the only son they had left.Evie understood.“Sure,” she said.She stepped out onto the porch and heard the crystals on the lamp shade jingle as the door closed behind her.Larry put his arms around her and Evie lay her head on his chest.She could hear his heart, a tiny thump, thump, thump.Larry’s good heart.She lifted her face and let him kiss her.“I have missed you so much,” he said.Evie couldn’t stop the tears that came into her eyes.But she didn’t cry.It had been a rush of love that she felt, a statement she had been trying hard to deny, that she loved this man too much to imagine life without him.“I’ve missed you too,” she said.“How about dinner tomorrow night?” Larry asked
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