I ARRIVED AT MY BEACH HOUSE EXPECTING PEACE-YILUX

through the house he had nearly lost without realizing it.

At the threshold, he paused, his hand resting on the frame, the same frame he had run through countless times as a boy without ever thinking about it.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, not as a promise, but as something he hoped he would be allowed to do.

“We’ll see,” I replied, and I didn’t continue reading …