Mariel put a comforting hand on his knee and said quite kindly, “You’re a freak with a good heart. Thank you for telling me about all this. I don’t want to tell you what to do, but it sure sounds like there’s a lot you still don’t know about the situation and even the effects of what you’re considering.”

“Thanks,” Samuel muttered, “And you’re right. I have no freaking clue. But, hey, what else is new?”

“Yeah, what else is new?” Mariel said sweetly, settling back into the couch beside Samuel.

“Hey, did you hear I got divorced?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a chuckle, “I’d heard that.”

“Okay, just checking.” And they sat together on the couch, quietly and comfortably. The evening slid by, warm and uneventful. The clock on the wall ticked rhythmically along. Birds rustled in the trellis outside. The whole world seemed perfectly still and at peace. Samuel only wished he could partake in some small measure of the calm all around him. But he knew he could not, not with bedtime looming ever nearer.