NEED TO TALK to u, the text from Charlotte read. Got a min?

“What’s up?” Liz said after she’d called her friend.

“I hope you won’t be weirded out,” Charlotte said, and Liz detected in Charlotte’s tone both pleasure and genuine nervousness. “I’m pretty surprised myself. But here goes: After you and I had drinks last week, I sent an email to Willie. Just like, Hey, heard your trip to Cincinnati may have ended on a strange note, hope you’re taking care. He emails back right away and wants to know if he can call me, and I say sure. We end up talking till four in the morning. Then the next night, the same thing. To make a long story short, he’s invited me to visit him this weekend.”

“We’re talking about Cousin Willie, right?” Liz said. “That Willie?”

“Yes,” Charlotte said. “That Willie.”

“You shouldn’t feel sorry for him,” Liz said. “Willie’s a big boy.”

Some retracting on Charlotte’s part occurred. “I don’t feel sorry for him.”

As if she were unaware of the retracting, as if this conversation had not become deeply strange, Liz said, “How did you have his email?”

“We’d exchanged cards at Chip’s dinner party.”

Which in itself, in light of subsequent developments, seemed suddenly suspicious. There was something displeasing to Liz about this unexpected association between Charlotte and Willie, and an additionally displeasing awareness of her own displeasure. If Charlotte was happy, and indeed this was how she sounded, shouldn’t Liz be happy for her?

“Obviously, you can do whatever you want,” Liz said. “But you don’t think he’s, like, a tech doofus?”

Coldly, Charlotte said, “No, I don’t.”

“I don’t mean doofus like he’s an idiot. He’s very smart. He’s just, I don’t know—he’s so awkward. You don’t think?” She was making things worse, not better, and she could hear herself doing it, but Charlotte and Willie? Really?

“I’ve got to get ready for a meeting,” Charlotte said. “I’d appreciate if you don’t mention this to your family.”

Why was Liz the repository for everyone’s confidences? She wanted to say something complimentary about Willie, but it was hard to figure out what. When the call had ended, Liz winced, balled her right hand into a fist, and bit her own knuckle.