With both Esther and Aldo away, Harry slipped into a solitary life in a house that simply had too much room. Even though he communicated with her almost daily, although sometimes only by text when she was busy, Esther couldn’t yet say exactly when she’d have time to visit, much less move in. And for a chap as gregarious as Aldo was in-person, he wasn’t much of a correspondent when he was on the road. Harry’d had a couple of conversations with him, during which his friend seemed preoccupied, and the only solid information he got was that Aldo would necessarily be staying in Italy beyond his initial estimate of two weeks. Because of the sensitivity of Aldo’s recent confessions to him, Harry didn’t feel right asking him too many questions.
In the first few weeks of residence on the McAdie co
