Would she like a normal pillow or a coconut pillow? “What’s a coconut pillow?” Phoebe asks. “A pillow,” Pauline says, “with coconut in it.” “Are pillows better that way?” she asks. “With coconut inside them?” That’s what her husband would have asked. A bad habit of hers, a product of being married for a decade—always imagining what her husband might say. Even when he’s not around. Especially when he’s not around. Phoebe didn’t think she’d end up being a woman like this. But if the last few years have taught her anything, it’s that you really can’t ever know who you are going to become.
