She looked at him as if she were trying to decide how much to tell him, which told him a lot. “It was not what I expected,” she said, “and I walked away feeling a bit too emotional.”

He nodded, although he didn’t really understand. How could he when he didn’t know the context of the meeting? What he did know was that for tonight she needed a friend and he wanted to be that friend.

“Come on,” he said, “you can help me with dinner.”

She pouted up at him. ...