Sienna admitted she’d found the envelope in my front hall during a June visit. She opened it, read the first page, and told Dalton the house transfer was already complete because he desperately wanted to believe it. Then she taped the envelope closed and stayed silent. Tears filled her eyes as she confessed. I didn’t scold her. I simply said I understood what it meant to desperately want something to be true. I’d once wanted a wedding invitation just as badly.

Gordon quietly asked his wife to remove the banner hanging across my porch rail. Marguerite, suddenly pale, obeyed without argument. The guests began leaving before dessert, many whispering apologies as they passed through the gate. After the final car disappeared, Dalton remained sitting on the bottom porch step, his hands hanging between his knees. Finally, he admitted the truth: he had been embarrassed by how small my life looked compared with the lives of his friends.