Summary

Brit and Paul are late to the Allbrights’ 2007 Fourth of July party because Paul refuses to alter his routine of listening to jazz and thoroughly reading the newspaper. He does not see why getting to a party on time is so important, but for Brit and the quartet, this is work: the Allbrights are major donors, and when Maisie Allbright gets drunk she always asks the quartet to play a sad piece. As Paul reads, Brit waits and watches him, listening to the jazz she dislikes.

In the early years, the steadiness of their relationship was wonderful. For the first time, Brit’s partner was the enthusiastically committed one. When the quartet decided to move to San Francisco, Brit prepared for a mutual breakup. Instead, Paul immediately investigated job opportunities and real estate. Now they have been together ten years, and...