His disarming compliments -- if they could ever really be construed as such -- should never strike her so soundly as they often do. But they do. They oh so very do. And often without fail.

It's enough to soften her tone: "It's not about age. It's about...relevance. If I try and be the big damn hero, I feel guilty for not being there for the people I care about. If I'm there for the people I care about, I feel guilty for not being the big damn hero. Such is my impasse. I dunno. It just hits all that harder when you've spent the last week alone in a house with two cats and a dog you're pretty sure is stealing your necklaces."