Instinctively, Desdemona flinched as his hand made contact with her own, but she didn’t pull away. She had done and said enough already that day—she would overcome any small discomfort to mollify her husband now. Her returning grasp, though, was loose, as fragile as their relationship felt in that moment.

“You cannot leave again,” Dezzie said after several moments, voice more accusatory than she intended—or than she felt.