Mike hosted our older men’s monthly book group. It was not his fault that the pizza was cold. It didn’t matter.

That’s retired physician David modeling how to use the torch he brought to carmelize the sugar on top of his crème brûlées. One of us dropped his ramekin. It also didn’t matter as David brought an extra.

Jim, our leader, said he’d had a request to add a 12th member, someone who’d just retired and was moving to be close to their daughter and grandchildren. “Twelve’s a good number,” offered John.

The book was Dennis Lehane’s Small Mercies, a terrific novel set in mid-1970s Boston that included murder, crime, power, racism, and the unforgettable Mary Pat, who, according to another character, was someone “who is irretrievably broken and wholly unbreakable.”

“That’s my favorite line in the book,” said Bob, “And I can’t quit thinking about it.”

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