“I’m not going to get hurt,” she’d told Seth. “Because I’m not expecting anything besides the present moment.”

Seth had looked doubtful. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that any more than I’d like it if you said you were falling in love with the guy.”

Joy had smiled. “Why is it that men can have casual affairs without anyone blinking twice, but if a woman says she’s going to have one, everyone gets all concerned? I’m not that fragile, Seth.”

“I never thought you were fragile. But you’re not cold-hearted, either. You’re like Alice,” he’d said, referring to her mother. “You feel things deeply. It’s not...