Chapter 38

“Well?” she said, looking earnest.

He scowled. “Well, it’s just this: I realized that I haven’t been happy.”

Vera sat back, her eyebrows raised. She looked incredulous.

“Okay,” she said. “But, I mean, really, who is?”

“I don’t know. Not many, I suppose. It’s just—well, it’s kind of a revelation to me that I’mnot. A new revelation.”

“As opposed to an old revelation,” Vera murmured.

Garner ignored this, and they were both silent for a little while, as the pedestrians and vehicles passed along the street.

Vera said, “You know, Garner, I always thought you were one of the few people I’ve known who washappy, generally speaking.”

He looked at her and nodded. “You know, I would have said so, too, until recently, but now I would say, not that I was happy, but that I was content.”