These aren't Faye Wallace's last words, but they are the last ones her husband understands. A few hours later, Faye is dead, and Toby is a widower, beset by new and incomprehensible problems. Was Faye really leaving him, as his sister-in-law claims? Why do his daughters suddenly accuse him of behavior he can't even bring himself to imagine? Everyone seems to be misinterpreting him, including some of the long-time customers who patronize his shoe store. Through it all, his sister stands by him. Then she too appears to doubt him.

Set in Massachusetts and California, "Captain...