What cracks had he left in their hearts? Did they love less now and settle for less in return, as they held onto parts of themselves they did not want to give and lose again? Or - and he wished this - did they love more fully because they had survived pain, so no longer feared it?

A. At this time he married his first wife and started a family. Dubus's collections include: Separate Flights (1975) Adultery and Other Choices (1977) Finding a Girl in America (1980) The Times Are Never So Bad (1983) Voices from the Moon (1984) The Last Worthless Evening (1986) Selected Stories (1988) Broken Vessels (1991) Dancing After Hours (1996) and Meditations from a Movable Chair (1998).