"So she’s older than you?"
"By one year, yeah. She’ll go on with grad school at some point. She wants to be a fashion designer, or maybe a personal stylist, so she’s getting some experience under her belt, as it were."
"And Neil?"
I heard my own sharp intake of breath. I swallowed once or twice. Conroy glanced toward me briefly, no doubt wondering why I was taking so long to answer.
"Neil died in a forest fire. Two and a half years ago. He was hiking with a friend in the Priest Wilderness in Virginia." I wanted to keep details to a minimum.
Road noise. That’s all I heard for maybe ten seconds that felt longer.
"Shit." Conroy stared straight ahead as he drove. "I’m sorry, man."
Another ten seconds.
"I’ve hiked through there," he said finally. "It’s gorgeous country. So remote, thoug
