Mathias manages another laugh at that and then shakes his head, not to downplay how much he likes Julie, but because he has no idea what's happening to him. None of this makes sense. None of it is fair. He's finally begun to think he might not have anything to feel guilty about and now this is happening.

"Her name is Julie," he says, then manages a thin smile. "She was in the Women's Air Force during the second World War."