I waited on tenterhooks for the phone to ring, eager to see the results of my handiwork. It was sheer luck that I happened to see Gabriel and that girl coming out of the building that day and went in to ask. The receptionist at the doctor’s office knew me well, and all it took was a smile and a coy word for her to open up and tell me the truth.

I didn’t come right out and ask, of course, but since she knew that I knew the family, she didn’t see the harm in sharing the ...