He sat with his wife’s photo, waiting for a son who had already boarded without him

Lila Rourke, a systems strategist from a partner firm, stepping onto the stone patio. She froze mid-step when she saw who I was dining with.

— Oh, Adrian. I didn’t realize you were meeting someone.

— Not meeting, — he said with that effortless, terrifying confidence. — Discovering.

Lila raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me, silently asking questions continue reading …