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casually. “Still dropping by for the occasional home-cooked meal—maybe with kids of their own? I saw the swing set and toys outside.”
    She smiled again. “Well, my daughter does, but I don’t get to see them very often. The swing set and the rest are mostly wishful thinking on my part. They do live around here. Greg’s in Dummerston, I think, and Julie’s in Vernon.” She recited the latter’s address, but then stopped, embarrassed. “This’ll sound terrible,” she said, “but I don’t actually know where Greg is right now. He’s going through a difficult phase. His sister knows.”
    â€œThat’s okay,” Willy said offhandedly. “They both married?”
    â€œJulie’s on her second husband. Greg…” Sharon paused again, her expression wistful. “He’s had girlfriends, but never married, and now … I guess I’m old-fashioned, but I think it helps a relationship to get married. Anyhow, he broke up with the last one. He’s not seeing anyone, as far as I know. But, I probably wouldn’t—know, that is. I really only hear about Greg through Julie, and she’s too busy to spend much time with me. It’s hard to keep all those balls in the air nowadays.”
    â€œJulie has more than one child?” Joe interpreted.
    â€œThree,” Sharon said, raising her eyebrows. “Two by her first husband, one by the second. And they are a handful.”
    â€œShe work, too?”
    â€œOh, yes. Don’t they all? She’s a secretary at McGee, Conklin, here in town.”
    â€œThat’s great,” Joe said. “You said they were relatively young when Hank went out of their lives, but they weren’t infants. How would you have characterized their relationship with him?”
    She shook her head thoughtfully. “He was great with them, and they loved him. They were hurt when he moved out. And when he disappeared, without leaving a word, things went downhill, like I said. To me, that just showed how attached they were to him.”
    â€œSo no problems?”
    â€œNo. I always thought he was a good father, especially since he wasn’t that great a husband.”
    Willy cleared his throat to ask, “Did your kids like BB coming around after Hank was gone?”
    She frowned at the characterization. “Coming around? He wasn’t a stray. BB was a family friend—always had been. Greg and Julie saw him all the time. His affection for me was private. The kids were never aware of it.”
    â€œLet’s talk about you and Hank,” Joe said. “What were your major problems?”
    â€œHe cheated on me, for one thing,” she said quickly.
    â€œWho with?” Willy wanted to know.
    â€œI don’t know. I asked him to give me at least that much respect—to tell me who it was. But he just denied it.”
    â€œThere was no doubt about it?”
    â€œNo. I found a crumpled love note in his pocket once, when I was doing the laundry. Nothing specific. Just something like ‘I love you,’ or whatever; it’s been too long and I was pretty upset. Then I began to pay attention, and there were other clues. He’d hang up the phone when I came into the room. I found a movie ticket in his truck for a night when he’d said he was working late. And one night, I even smelled her on him when he came home.”
    â€œBut he never fessed up?”
    â€œNo. That made me so mad—to be taken for a fool. He said he’d never seen the note, hadn’t gone to the movies, and that I was being paranoid about the phone. He wouldn’t even talk about what I’d smelled.”
    â€œYou said he drank, too.”
    She let out a long breath, heavier than a sigh. “Drank, hung out with friends, wouldn’t keep his promises. I told him he reminded me of a dog, pulling on his leash all the time. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised when I